Roads to Nowhere

Contents
i S (dur : 3:15)
ii A (dur : 2:00)
iii L (dur : 5:00)
iv I (dur : 2:00)
v G (dur : 4:00)
vi I (dur : 2:00)
vii A (dur : 2:10)
Program note:
The inspiration for Roads to Nowhere came while reading the Ross Gibson book Seven Versions of an Australian Badland. This wonderful part history, part cautionary tale about a horror stretch of road in Queensland took me back to my own experiences of driving on isolated Australian highways in distant corners of our country. Gibson’s book tracks the parallels between our ‘civilized’ treatment of country (with the environmental degradation that ensues) and more personal stories of abhorrent human behavior. It’s a bleak but fascinating read.
A similar conversation between the macro and micro occurs in Roads to Nowhere. It is in seven movements – four tutti movements separated by three solo interludes. Three note cells form the musical core of the tutti movements – the relentlessness of highway driving reflected in the patterned evolution of this limited material. For each of the solo movements, serial expressionism forms the basis for more intimate portayals of humanity under duress. So this work is part road music, part reflection – a response to moments of revelation in the face of an endless double white line.

2009

Roads to Nowhere

For String Trio