Indris
(2021)

Composer's notes:

'Indris' is a work for string trio which draws inspiration from the haunting call of the Indri lemur – a species of primate endemic to the eastern forests of Madagascar. Some local people believe the Indri to be a descendant of their close relatives and white settlers imagined the lemurs to be spirits; ‘lemures’ literally means ‘ghosts’ in Latin. Indeed, the extraordinary call does seem to be almost human-like in its emotional depth. Taking the call as a starting point, I fleshed out a sonata-form modelled on the sonatas of Mozart, with the call appearing at each of the important structural moments. I then inserted a chorale, itself derived from the Indri’s call, around and through the sonata form, mirroring its trajectory. The resulting work follows these different strands as they synthesise and separate fluidly, culminating in a searing climax.

Duration: 6'

Instrumentation: String trio

First Performance: Northumbria Trio, RMA Annual Conference, September, 2021.