Year: 2025

Instrumentation: Saxophone (one player, Soprano & Alto) & Fixed Electronics (requires click-track & stereo playback)

Duration: 20:00”

I Ngen-ko/Lament 5:00”
II Aluxo’ob/Impact 4:06”
III Orang bunian/Veil 6:30”
IV Dokkaebi/Oblivion 4:30”

About: Commissioned by Robert Finegan with funding from the PRS Open Fund.

Performance History: Preview of Mvt II by Robert Finegan at Bloomsbury Festival London: https://bloomsburyfestival.org.uk/whats-on/lands-lost-and-found
April 2027 – World Premiere by Robert Finegan at New Music Dublin 2027
June 2027 – UK Premiere by Robert Finegan at Spitalfields Festival 2027

Programme Note: This piece was commissioned by Robert Finegan for a project exploring cultural exchange: composers writing about Ireland from an outside perspective and being invited to explore and engage with other cultures from an Irish perspective. Folklore and its relationship to the land seemed like an ideal meeting-point given Ireland’s rich mythological storytelling and its relationship to environment. Sídhe (fairy mounds) in Irish mythology are portals; liminal points where the physical world meets the supernatural. The titles of the four movements (or mounds) refer to mythic or supernatural creatures that are deeply associated with nature and environment in their native cultures: Ngen-ko, a Mapuche water spirit (Chile), Aluxo’ob, a Mayan sprite (Mexico), Orang bunian, hidden or whistling people (Singapore), and the Dokkaebi, a Korean goblin/nature spirit (South Korea). The music in each movement takes a natural element associated in some way with these legends (water/earth/air/fire) and uses these as a starting point for exploring the timbral qualities of the saxophone.

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