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Circuit Breaker

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posted on 2025-01-22, 00:01 authored by ANDREA MEAGHERANDREA MEAGHER
Circuit Breaker – composed by Andrea Keller, commissioned by the Monash Art Ensemble, Monash University (2020). Circuit Breaker is a work in six parts, written during and drawing from the feelings and experiences that accompanied the 2020/2021 Pandemic induced lockdowns in Melbourne, Australia. Circuit Breaker movements: I Opening II Still III Cog IV Interlude V Languishing VI Systems Over-Ride Composed for large ensemble including soprano, alto, tenor saxophones, bass clarinet, violin, viola, trumpet, trombone, piano, guitar, bass, drum set, the work demands improvisation, highly interactive and responsive ensemble playing, amidst notated materials, and direction from a conductor. The scoring utilises my concept of reflective notation, which combines graphic notation, traditional forms of notation, with explorations on visual placement and page layout. Reflective notation describes a notational system that communicates musical ideas in a way that is reflective of, and highly attuned with, the performative skill set and approach necessary to produce the music. The specific performative skill set of the improvising musician, requires the execution of pre-determined musical ideas (melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, structural, etc.), the contribution of spontaneous and personal responses to the music, as well as interaction (when in a group setting). The aim is to present the notated form of the music in a way that provides a holistic overview that aligns with the sense of agency demanded of improvisers in the realisation of musical compositions. This approach sits between the lead sheet and the traditional score & parts. Ideally it provides an aerial view of the structure, the crucial content, an understanding of the outline of the work, its progression, each musician’s role in it, and the interaction between instruments of the ensemble, ‘at a glance’. The work begins by setting the space with Opening. The second movement Still – encapsulates the sense of stillness that lockdown brought with it. This is followed by Cog which captures feelings of displacement and the uncertainty of shifting territories. The Interlude is characterised by an impassioned melody that possesses feelings of frustration and anguish in response to the situation. There is a return to stillness with Languishing which features improvised interludes prompted by the words “quiet despair”. The conclusion comes with Systems Over-Ride a plea to re-evaluate past ways of living and being. The work was premiered at the 2022 Melbourne International Jazz Festival, and subsequently performed at the 2023 Melbourne Women’s International Jazz Festival, to celebrate the album release (December 7, 2023).

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NTRO Output Type

  • Recorded or Rendered Work

NTRO Output Category

  • Recorded or Rendered Work : Audio / visual recording

Place

Melbourne, Australia

NTRO Publisher

Monash University

Medium

Audio recording released in Digital format

Size or Duration of Work

35:11

Affiliation

Andrea Keller Meagher, University of Melbourne

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