Shadow

Shadow | for solo bass trombone and electronic sounds - 2000/3

Shadow was originally performed as part of Feast - a multimedia event at Galatos, Auckland in November 2000. The performance featured live & electronic experimental music by Norm Skipp and Paul Booth, live trombone performance from Paul Booth and Tim Sutton, butoh & contemporary dance with choreography/performance by Wilhemeena Gordon and Jackie Gray, video art by Susa Buntrock, tied together by the theatrical direction of Simon Taylor with Paolo Rotundo as an otherworldly orchestrator.  

The process of composing Shadow was very much a collaborative one.  Tim Sutton and I met and discussed various ideas and sound possibilities.  I then wrote some sketches of sound ideas, which we later recorded in the tunnel, which goes under the railway in Auckland Domain.  It was a late spring evening, and in typical Auckland fashion it decided to rain. The birds seemed excited also to have a lone trombone in their midst. Some beautiful colours came from the resonance within the tunnel surrounded by birdsong and rain.

Shadow is an exploration of colour, light and shade - the beauty and power of the trombone.

It was realised in the Electronic Music Studios at The Auckland University School of Music.

This piece is written for and dedicated to the one and only Tim Sutton

This recording was made by Radio New Zealand at the (09)03 Contemporary Music Festival in Auckland, 2003 with Tim Sutton on Bass Trombone.

Premiere concert performance by Tim Sutton – bass trombone - (09) 03 Contemporary Music Festival, Auckland, NZ – October 2003