Tough on time and the causes of time: On The Edge of Science

Davey, Janet

Duration

2m 00s

Composed

1998

Instrumentation

Flexible Ensemble with Keyboard

Scoring

flexible, with floor tom, radio, pf

Availability

Contact CoMA

About the work

When COMA’s London Ensemble invited members of the Forum London Composers’ Group to write a short piece for them – I gulped. The theme of Time and the Causes of Time is one philosophers and scientists have grappled with for centuries. I had a few weeks! “On The Edge of Science” explores the territory between ‘predictable’ laws of relativity, and the small unpredictable events – Quantum mechanics. Will the two sides ever share common ground (Answers on a postcard).

First Performance: CoMA London Ensemble, July 11th 1998, St George in the East, London

Technical notes

Requires extended techniques on all instruments. Air tones, whispering into instruments, and micro-tones required from winds, col legno from strings. Requires floor tom, untuned radio, and wind chimes. Desirable for players to be scattered around or within the audience.