Performed by Sasha Savaloni
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Timothy Cooper
Image by Maria Urso

In Grab und Mond D.893, Schubert sets a particularly chilling poem of the same name by Johann Gabriel Seidl. The poet addresses both the moon and the grave, seeking answers about life after death. Silberblau takes the separation of the worlds above and below the grave as its starting point. The guitar’s strings are divided through the use of a capo, which allows two distinct soundworlds to emerge. Schubert’s music is processed and disfigured via a three-fold filter of the capo; string preparations; and manipulated recordings of Grab und Mond, which I arranged for guitar at the beginning of the process.

Commissioned by Sasha Savaloni as part of his ‘An den Mond’
project.

Silberblau (for solo guitar, electronics and light) [2020]

Struction (how I attempted to get the thoughts in my head into your head using only five instruments, five instrumentalists, metronome sound and MIDI) is a 25-minute work for amplified small ensemble (2 e-flat clarinets, violin, viola and cello) and tape.

The work is an account of a composer's creative process. Through hearing the composer's pre-recorded voice issuing increasingly demanding instructions to the musicians on stage, Struction explores the often difficult process by which objects conceived in the imagination are brought to fruition. 

This live performance was given by Red Note Ensemble in April 2011. 

Struction

Thomas Butler is a composer based in Glasgow.

Struction

Thomas Butler

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