2.2.2(II=bcl).2(II=cbsn). 4.3.3.1.perc(2).Timp.Strings. c.14’, 2023

In writing Oscillations for Orchestra, I wanted to create a feeling of inevitability, where the direction and momentum of the music felt like a gravitational pull.

At the core of the piece is a simple repeated rhythmic gesture that expands and contracts. With each iteration, sounds get longer, and time begins to stretch. The overall structure of the work follows this same palindromic gesture—an abrupt release of energy is pulled into a slow, almost static soundworld in the middle, then gradually builds back up into the active state as heard in the opening.

I’m often inspired by an external process as a starting point—a way of organising sound so that as it unfolds, something new emerges. I find this can often be the most freeing creatively. It feels like a collaboration between me and the music. As I wrote the piece, I considered how the different parts interlocked, letting the unfolding process guide how I contoured and shaped the music. Slowly, I edited, softened and blurred its strictness. The result is equal parts process and intuition.

Listen to an excerpt: