Clinamen
Notes
Clinamen is the idea from Epicurus, via Lucretius, that the unvierse is made of atoms in state of continuous parallel descent from and absolute high to an absolute low. Every so often, for reasons we cannot understand, one of them makes a slight swerve or deviation (the clinamen) in its path and collides with its neghbour, causing a chain reaction. This is how matter is formed. In tha hands of Alfedd Jarry, this becomes a key principle of 'pataphysics, applied not just to matter but to language and indeed life itself.
This piece features a series (266, in fact) of descending seven-note scale patterns that never repeat exactly. The slight differences between them create the sense of clinamen. The original digital version was laboriously created on trains on a Yamaha QY-10 sequencer - a portable device that allows entries in step time. Subsequently the piece was arranged for ensemble too.