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Guy Bunce - Composer

Gyres (2010)

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Instrumentation:
Electric Guitar (with effects)
Bass Guitar (with effects)
Percussion (5 objects)
Computer


c15'


'Gyre' is  the name given by WB Yates to a geometric shape that represents his  philosophical conception of history and time.   Yates alludes to this shape in his poem The Second Coming:

"Turning and turning in the widening  gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot  hold;
 Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world...."


In his  imagery, Yates also employs a pun on this word, which when spelt Geier, is the  old German word for Vultures.

In 'Gyres'  each instrumental part consists of a loop of material which increases in  density and definition with each repetition (spiral form).  At the half way point the process is then  reversed as each part  spirals back by loosing definition and decreasing in  density.  The overall performance of the  piece will vary each time because each instrument performs  independently of the  other with independent tempo and loop length.   The sampler part acts as a free-moving core providing stability and a  sound world  uniting the other parts.

Guy Bunce 2019


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