While the title of this piece may be more immediately evocative of the works by composer Pierre Boulez, its significance lies in the sense of the word given by Guy Debord and practiced by the Situationists in France and elsewhere. Literally meaning drift, Debord describes it as follows:

"In a dérive one or more persons during a certain period drop their relations, their work and leisure activities, and all their other usual motives for movement and action, and let themselves be drawn by the attractions of the terrain and the encounters they find there. Chance is a less important factor in this activity than one might think: from a dérive point of view cities have psychogeographical contours, with constant currents, fixed points and vortexes that strongly discourage entry into or exit from certain zones.."
"The ecological analysis of the absolute or relative character of fissures in the urban network, of the role of microclimates, of distinct neighborhoods with no relation to administrative boundaries, and above all of the dominating action of centers of attraction, must be utilized and completed by psychogeographical methods. The objective passional terrain of the dérive must be defined in accordance both with its own logic and with its relations with social morphology."

While I had known of this term for some time now, it had only recently occurred to me that I compose in this manner. A work lives as a performance, and during this brief moment there is the potential for incredible things to occur that are contingent upon the conditions in the space. An instrument is a terrain in its own right; the performer, with each gesture and every cue, makes decisions that can have significance. Even in a concert hall, things change. 

Dérive (2009), for bass clarinet and cello. Ensemble Praesenz

undergrad at Susquehanna. music and words.
 

Dérive (2009), for bass clarinet and cello. Ensemble Praesenz

davidcoll