Part 2

Tell us more about the grid, please

One of the compositional limits that I impose upon myself is to use a grid structure for my work.

All of my compositions are based on a fixed unchanging grid system - and - as such - each composition is partially pre-made and exists before the process of composition takes place. This signature structure already exists - and is waiting for the content to be produced and inserted into the form of the grid. There is also a limited number of uniform durations of the sound elements - which are determined by the structure of the grid.

The grid is a formal compositional and primary structural space. It is a fixed system with it own internal rules - but also one that allows for a certain degree of freedom. The use of the grid creates balance between freedom and order.

My compositions consist of uniform repeated serial units that are contained within a non-hierarchical structure. They are related to each other through the determination of the systemic grid - with the grid taking the form of a compositional DNA. The grid is an underlying order.

Each composition consists of 768 bars - which is then sub-divided into three sections of 256 bars - which in turn are sub-divided into two sets of 128 bars - or four sets of sixty-four bars - or eight sets of 32 bars - etc. The content of the composition consists of elements that are 1 - 2 - 4 - 8 - 16 - 32 - 64 - 128 - 256 or 768 bars long. The compositions are also of the same tempo - which is one-hundred-and twenty beats-per-minute - and so consequently all of the compositions are of the same duration - which is twenty-five and thirty-sex seconds.

There is equivalence of all the parts of the composition and consist of repetitions or discrete incidents. Consequently - there is no compositional hierarchy - cadences - musically driven emotion - nor are there any dramatic moments or climaxes. The compositions do not move forward to an end goal or resolution - there is no end point or conclusion. There is no analogy - metaphor - symbolism - and - as such - I do not regard my music to be an expression of emotions or feelings - but as an expression of musical ideas - and of the unfolding of time.

Please recommend two pieces of art (book, painting, piece of music) to our readers that they should know about.

Dorothy Wordsworth ‘The Grasmere Journals’ (1800 - 1803)
Dorothy Wordsworth - the sister of the poet William Wordsworth - kept a diary for most of her life - and the ‘The Grasmere Journals’ document a three-year period when they were living at Dove Cottage in in the village of Grasmere in the Lake District - which is a area of outstanding natural beauty in the northern part of England.

Both Dorothy and William were keen hikers - and walked the hills and mountains of the area - including scaling the heights of Scafell Pike - which is the highest mountain in England. In her diary - Dorothy describes their experiences of nature and their life of elegant simplicity - with parts of dairy giving inspiration to William as basis for many of is poems - including ‘Daffodils’ and ‘Alice Fell’.

Mark Rothko ‘Seagram Murals’ (1958-59)
Elegance and simplicity are also key components of these following two examples of high-level creativity.

Mark Rothko’s ‘Seagram Murals’ were a high-point of his career - and consist of nine large-scale canvases painted in subdued colours of maroon - dark red - and black. They are truly sublime - and inspire in the viewer a state of awe that is similar to the feelings felt when surrounded by the hills and mountains of the Lake District as described Dorothy and William Wordsworth in their prose and poems.

Mark Rothko’s ‘Seagram Murals’ are usually exhibited in a dedicated space at the Tate Modern in London. However - five of the paintings are currently on display at Tate St. Ives - and will return to Tate London after January 2025.



Morton Feldman ‘Piano (Three Hands)’ (1957)
The beauty of Morton Feldman’s composition ‘Piano (Three Hands)’ is that it can be easily performed by musicians who have only limited keyboards skills - but only if they have the right mental attitude and the ability to reach a meditative state of mind.

The composition requires intense concentration - from both the performers and listeners - as the sounds of the composition - which are single tones and chords - move at an extremely slow glacial pace through space and time.

Were feelings of the sublime and awe can be inspired by the large-scale paintings of Rothko and of the hills and mountains of the lake district as described by the Wordsworths - the feelings of the sublime come from the diminutive - minimalist - and refined qualities of Feldman’s music.