For chamber orchestra (unconducted)
Duration 11’15”.
Instrumentation
1 Flute (doubling Alto)
1 Clarinet (doubling Bass
1 Horn
1 Percussion player * [1 suspended Cymbal, 2 Toms (medium, low), 1 snare drum, 1 CowBell, 1 Slapstick, 1 triangle, 1 woodblock, 2 bongos, 1 Glockenspiel (separate staff)]
1 Piano (prepared – see notes)
2 Violins
1 Viola
1 Cello
1 Double Bass
The Quirky Hourglass moves through three distinct sound worlds. It opens with a string quintet carrying a theme rooted in rap — the rhythmic melody of a verse against a groove, built for head-bobbing. Woodwinds paint around it. The body is invited in from the first bar.
From there the piece arrives at the Lake — an extended quiet section, still and sonar, influenced by Finneas, Billie Eilish, Hans Abrahamsen, and Cypriot composer Faidros Kavallaris. The audience and performers are asked to surrender to the auditory detail that only silence makes audible.
Beyond the Lake: jazz harmonies, block chords, Cypriot vocal inflections with tritones and augmented steps, irregular time signatures. A playful canon follows, passing between solos and duets in shifting timbral combinations. The cello closes it — melismatic, unmetered, sung with the weight of a power ballad. Think Lara Fabian.
The piece alternates between tempo-specific structured sections and free-of-meter sections for all instruments except percussion. The percussionist keeps time throughout, making the piece viable without a conductor.
Perusal score available below. Parts provided on confirmation of performance.
Any ensemble interested in performing this piece is encouraged to get in touch to discuss the extended techniques used. Contact
Program Note
The feeling of being in an hourglass and trying to come out before all the grains of sand have fallen on you, is a haunting feeling. And then you take a deep breath and realise that the hourglass feeling lasts only a moment. In reality we aren’t in an hourglass. Time stops, and bends, and our experiences change and vary, and we adapt to the new and unexpected. Life has a way of coming round again finding us a bit wiser. As long as we have become wiser and don’t live in the comforting past.
Contact to arrange performance