This short piece for solo piccolo, starling sandbox, presents the performer momentous fragments and scatters them into four lettered groupings. Performers are invited, though loosely, to use the scaffold of how to interpret the work; such as dynamics, tone colours and open structure. Each gesture is based on hearing and transcribing – loosely – the birdsongs of starlings that live on my estate, and by using various extended-techniques and their microscopic variations, I was able to create a sparse yet playful texture; enhanced by the unpredictable format of “sandbox” mode, where the performer engages with the score using a fluid scaffold to engage with the fragments – finding parameters within the freedoms of proximity and dimensional interplay.

starling sandbox

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starling sandbox

Sean Quinn - Composer