Marble Sparks

When I started working on this composition I lived around the block of Marble Arch in London. The title Marble Sparks refers to two seemingly contradicting ideas; massiveness and the dynamic. Subtitle of the work is Improvisations II. The II suggests that there has to be a number I as well, but that version was replaced by this present one.
I wanted to compose a playful work, an idea that had to guide the working method. Working with the assistance of the computer during the process of composing, provided musical ideas I never would have found without this mechanical method. The work has come into existence in sport, (without effort) and was a work in progress; the first stage was an arbitrarily played improvisation on a midi keyboard. The notes appearing in the music notation software were altered in the next stage. That is how tens of short improvisational phrases were created. After rigid selection, these phrases were lined up in a certain logical order and re-composed. The composing of new material was always backtracked to the original improvised phrases.
The result was a characteristic ‘boogie-woogie’ composition that asked for a specific instrumentation, consisting of a/o two piano’s (massiveness), tenor saxophone and trumpets. The instrumentation resulted into version I with which I was not very content. The composition was broken up here and there and rebuilt with the resulting fragments, and specifically orchestrated for the Dutch Radio Chamber Orchestra. Especially the ending of the piece in its final form was then drastically changed and re-composed.

Edward Top

With this work, I won the 2004 Henriette Bosmans Prize during the Netherlands Music Days in Utrecht.

It was performed on December 12, 2004 by the Dutch Radio Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Peter Eotvos.