Ann Cleare

For two pianists (1 piano) and two percussionists

The artist Arnulf Rainer often describes the presence of a black snake in his pictures, an unusual creature that he scarily happened upon one day while out for his routine walk. For many reasons, the impression that this encounter made had a lasting presence in his work: “I never again saw the snake in nature, but it keeps reappearing in my pictures”. I should live in wires for leaving you behind traces my version of such a recurring being. For years my music has dealt with the presence of a sonic object/architecture that I call a ball of wire: a mammoth, tangled, metallic motion that spins relentlessly. This piece attempts to map the genesis of this ball of wire, to understand where it came from, and why it occupies such a prominent space in my work.

Watch a video of the piece, performed by Yarn/Wire at The Issue Project Room:

Listen to the piece, performed by Yarn/Wire at The Issue Project Room: https://yarnwire.bandcamp.com/track/ann-cleare-i-should-live-in-wires-for-leaving-you-behind-2014 

Look at an excerpt and purchase the score and performance materials from PSNY: https://www.eamdc.com/psny/composers/ann-cleare/works/i-should-live-in-wires-for-leaving-you-behind/