Christian Mason

TRIO: In Space Enlaced

The present piece is a wind trio reduction of my ensemble piece In Time Entwined, In Space Enlaced (2008), which was in turn an expansion of an original trio for bass flute, cor anglais and viola.

Throughout the piece, the three instruments find themselves entangled in various contrapuntal and heterophonic webs. Though their individual identities are generally distinct - by virtue of their timbral differences - they seek to blur their boundaries, forging relationships through shared material as they attempt to merge with one another.

I was inspired by the surreal expression of love in David Gascoyne's poem "Antennae":

The timeless sleepers tangled in the bed
In the midst of the sonorous island, alone

The tongue between the teeth
The river between the sands

Love in my hand like lace
Your hand enlaced with mine.

(Christian Mason, 2012)