Incursion and Reconnaisance

Incursion and Reconnaisance (2012) is my first work for a solo percussion duo, written specifically for Michael Clark (marimba) and Hilary Ball (vibraphone).

I was initially motivated to work with this bizarre musical form since encountering the fine artwork of Kali Tal, former Professor of Humanities and the Arts at The University of Arizona, and her interests in Trauma Theory. Incursion and Reconnaisance is a musical depiction of an over-worked mind struggling to process thoughts, sometimes over-active, stripping thought of all meaning, often forced into moments of no conscious thought at all. The music often passes through phases of soft, sparse or total silence, and dwells on resonances. Regular rhythm is rarely established.

The marimba represents sharp, violent, and dramatic incursions. Always expressed is the obsessive reflection of the initial incursion, by frequently re-stating the violent figure in varying forms, and exploring, by frequently re-stating violent figures in varying forms, and exploring the consequential rhythmic instability in a pertetuum mobile section. Forced attemps of strategic reconnaisance fail to prevent the battle that results, spawned by intensive confrontation.