Branchings was composed in 2007, for Aura Giles.

Duration: ca. 10:00

11 short movements, can be performed separately.

PROGRAM NOTES

When I composed this collection of pieces in the fall of 2007, I was also working on a play that took place on Haida Gwaii on Canada's north-west coast. That play was a work of fiction, riffing on the true story of the legendary, sacred Golden Spruce tree and the man who cut it down (as recounted in John Valliant's incredible book "The Golden Spruce").

Alongside this narrative, I became fixated on the mathematics of spruce trees: their recursive branching structure. This collection, Branchings, is the musical result.

Some of the pieces found their way into my play, either as whole works or as fragments of material for the actor/flutist to improvise with. As a collection, they have the scope of a concert work.

This order of movements for Branchings is only a suggestion. They could be rearranged permanently or before each performance, either through decision, intuition or chance. The movements may be performed individually, or in any subset of the whole, but a performance of the complete set is encouraged.

It would be fascinating to pair a live performance of Branchings with projected slide-show of Golden Spruce imagery as well as close-ups of branches, twigs and needles...

- Alex Eddington (August 2016)