Trittico per G.S.

Brian FERNEYHOUGH
Born 1943, Coventry, England

Trittico per G.S. (1989)

contrabass solo
Commissioned by Stefano Scodanibbio
Published by Edition Peters, catalogue EP7361

Continuous present is one thing, and beginning again and again is another. These are two things. And then there is the use of everything.
--Gertrude STEIN Literature as Composition

I have always been interested by the degree of correspondence obtaining between laws of form pertaining to different vehicles of creative expression. This brief work for solo double bass is based on a short extract from a lecture by Gertrude STEIN on literary composition, and takes as its point of departure invariant (cyclic) modes of transformation mapped onto three different types of musical material. In spite of the title, the piece does not consist of three distinct movements but rather the succession and intersection of textures whose density and level of variability are constantly increasing.

In Trittico per G.S. I have attempted to make reference to combinatorial and formal devices paralleling, at least in part, those utilised by the poet herself. The piece was commissioned by Stefano SCODANIBBIO, to whom it is gratefully dedicated.

Programme note © Brian FERNEYHOUGH