| Movements/SectionsMov'ts/Sec's | 1 section |
|---|---|
| Composition Year | 2021 |
| Genre Categories | Pieces; For 6 recorders; Scores featuring the recorder; For 6 players |
Contents |
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| Work Title | Alice Through the Covid Mirror |
|---|---|
| Alternative. Title | |
| Composer | Henderson-Sellers, Brian |
| Opus/Catalogue NumberOp./Cat. No. | Op.58 |
| I-Catalogue NumberI-Cat. No. | IBH 64 |
| Movements/SectionsMov'ts/Sec's | 1 section |
| Year/Date of CompositionY/D of Comp. | 2021 |
| Average DurationAvg. Duration | 6.5 minutes |
| Composer Time PeriodComp. Period | Modern |
| Piece Style | Romantic |
| Instrumentation | descant recorder, 2 treble recorders, tenor recorder, bass recorder, great bass recorder |
Programme notes
Letters in the alphabet are mapped, modulo 7, on to the 7 notes of the scale. Thus, in ALICE, the letter L (12th letter) maps to E (5th letter) and I maps to B.
Similarly, COVID (3rd, 15th, 22nd, 9th and 4th) maps to C, A, A, B and D.
In the allegro, the harmony is provided by two trebles using a 9 and an 8 semiquaver repeating pattern with the tenor using a different, 6 semiquaver pattern. The bass also uses an 8 quaver pattern but displaced, whilst the great bass uses a 6 quaver pattern, again displaced. These patterns are interrupted at bar 31 for 9 bars with a new motiv.
Alice sets out in high spirits and then encounters Covid, which lasts for 19 bars. The sadness induced encourages her to dive through the looking glass (mirror) at bar 59 only to find a new world in which everything is backwards. In the middle of Covid she hears her leader (Humpty Dumpty) tell her it’s not a race to which she replies (in bar 59) “Yes, it is”.
Thus, the whole piece pivots around bar 59 such that bars 60 onwards are a reflection (in the Covid mirror) of bars 1-58.
