The Fifth Element

Instrumentation

Oboe
1

Additional Information

I like the idea of ‘less is more’. I like to create simple structural foundations and then build layers of colour and texture on top. This piece was written like an Etudé for oboe and is built on simple foundations – a repetition of a short six bar phrase, which is transposed around a cycle of fifths, keeping the same rhythm each time and ends with a multiphonic at each cadence based on the next fifth of the cycle. I then add grace notes, timbral-flutters and breathy key rattles to add another layer of texture and colour. There is also an optional piano part (subject to availability) to act as a further resonance to the oboe and space, rather than an accompaniment. The piano draws out and resonates the accented grace notes (cycling the fifths) throughout the duration of the piece to create another underlying layer of colour. The piece ends how it started with the opening few bars suggesting an infinite amount of times the cycle can be repeated

Tags

Details

Year
Minutes
5

Recordings

Notes
Late Music Festival 2012 Commission
Date recorded
2012
Performers
David Enfield
Title
The Fifth Element
Venue
Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York