make do & mend

for violin & cimbalom

'make do & mend' constructs a new object from fragments. 

The title comes from the British Legion’s wartime slogan encouraging invention in times of hardship and scarcity. Though ‘making do’ is not fashionable, nor encouraged by the loudest voices in our society (in a world of fast-fashion, on- demand entertainment and instant gratification), it important both environmentally and artistically.

The piece holds this “homemade-ness” at its heart, celebrating the little imperfections and inconsistencies generated by looping fragments and often unstable techniques. Material is quickly deconstructed, clarifying & purifying. Strict/metronomic and free/unmeasured sections interact, the measured and the improvisatory. Loosely, a new object is built from the pieces.

[ Vln., Cimb. ]