Submergence

Duration 
Approx. 10 minutes

Submergence was written for bass clarinettist Alex South during our respective PhD research. Alex’s work focused on humpback whale song, and our conversations became the starting point for a piece inspired not by the sound of whales, but by the way their songs are organised over time.

The piece borrows the large-scale structure of whale song, where small musical units combine into larger phrases, songs and song sessions. The music unfolds through repetition and gradual variation, creating the sensation of drifting through a continuously changing landscape.

The piece is built entirely from softly spoken bass clarinet multiphonics. I combined different multiphonics into shared chords, allowing harmonies to emerge from sounds more commonly associated with extended technique. Amplification reveals the fragile details of each sound, making breath, key noise and shifting overtones as important as the notes themselves.

Instrumentation
4 amplified bass clarinets