for tuned percussion ensemble
This piece is loosely based on Thelonious Monk’s jazz standard,
Blue Monk. The “tune” appears as a kind of coda at the end
of the piece. Throughout the piece I was inspired by Monk’s highly
personal musical expression, his harmonic innovation, angular melodic
lines, his often sparse, stark note clusters and his quirky style of
improvisation – based often on erratic rhythms and rhythmic surprise.
I tried to create a piece so extremely delicate, fragile, that it could
easily be crushed in your hand with the slightest pressure. I also put
Blue Monk through a kind of magnifying glass so the piece becomes an
exaggerated, half-speed, and crystalline version of its former self.