Preludes and Maze Dance

This piece was written between May and August 1987 in response to a commission from the Southbank for a work designed to be performed alongside Stockhausen’s Kreuzspiel. It is therefore scored for the same combination of oboe, clarinet, piano and three percussionists, although the woodwind doublings, percussion instruments used and aesthetic are considerably different to Stockhausen’s.

The oboe and clarinet are treated as the main protagonists and after a brief introduction for the percussion they state alternately their different types of music; that for the oboe coloured by woodblocks, claves and xylophone, and that for the clarinet by suspended cymbal, bongos and marimba. They proceed from this point of contrast towards a synthesis which is finally achieved in a high unison melodic line. This then signals the start of the maze dance finale.

The preludes play continuously and are separated by passages that employ various types of drum. During the dance, which also follows without a break, these drums come to the fore. The title ‘Maze Dance’ presented itself as appropriate for a dance that explores a labyrinth of pulses and intricate changes of metre.

Preludes and Maze Dance was premiered on 5 September 1987 at the Summerscope Festival in the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London by Music Projects/London conducted by Richard Bernas. 

Philip Grange