A White Room

Piers Hellawell's A White Room for Piano Quartet.

a white room was the second short piece to be commissioned by the Schubert Ensemble for Chamber Music 2000. It was written in spring of 1999, during the compositionof Inside Story, a double concerto for the 1999 BBC Proms. a white room complements its predecessor in that it is a hushed scherzo rather than a slow aria; the latter type was by 1999 becoming rather prevalent among Chamber Music2000 commissions, and the Schubert Ensemble suggested that I tackle the challenge of writing 'easy' fast music. It turned out to be a challenge indeed; my solution to creating rapid movement using players of unknown techniquewasto employ ostinato repetition of simple fragments, largely using open strings - materials of a sort that in any case feature in my wider musical language. In addition I supplemented the rhythmic drive by percussive drumming onpiano and cello (also aspects typical of me).

These features add up to a sound picture in which rhythmic momentum predominates over line - though a chorale fragment persistently tries to establish itself. The title a whiteroom indicates that this piece is an uncluttered space, a location in sound perhaps free of the more exotic images in Hall Of Mirrors. - Piers Hellawell

Commission made possible by Keith Nimmo.