Sopran-Blockflöte (Can you find the Unmoving?)

Can you find the Unmoving? is a question addressed to the listener, an invitation to discover a point of stillness within a frantic movement. The source of inspiration is a dynamic meditation technique that comes from oriental spirituality - Nataraj - in which the participant performs an intense dancing activity for a long period of time; being totally involved in the process, the participant must discover the inner witness, who impassively observes the intense physical activity.

The frantic dancing activity, which does not follow an established pattern, is translated musically by a movement dominated by an irregular rhythmic activity, the only constant being the incessant change of the metric frame. Strong accents, bright sound explosions will characterize the musical sections that will predominate throughout the work.

The image of the rotating dervish is metaphorically expressed formally through the numerous returns of the main musical idea, each time in a slightly different form. The linear temporality that dominates these sections is due to the presence of a stable pulsation that wants to imprint accumulations of kinetic energy, followed by its relaxations. However, the musical continuum created is not a static one, numerous sonic surprises being sprinkled in the writing of each instrument.

The contrasting parts have the role of potentiating the kinetic energy created by continuous motion. In these very static sections, timbral processing plays an important role. Linear temporality is abandoned due to the extremely slow tempo, which leads to the suspension of the relationships between sounds. The absence of a pulsation to measure the flow of time contributes to the creation of an amorphous, suspended state.

The end of the work has the function of a cathartic, liberating purification. An amplifying effect is brought by the use of the Police Whistle, which accentuates the irregular rhythmic patterns. The final energy accumulation wants to bring performers into a limit state, in which loss of control is imminent.

Can you find the Unmoving? was written at the request of the Black Pencil Ensemble. The first performance of the work took place in Almere (Goede Rede Concerten) on 26.09.2020.