专辑简介

"Elusive Symmetry" was inspired by the work of the Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher (1898-1972), and was written to be performed live as part of a multimedia show created by Eleanor Turner, Alan Thomas and the hip-hop dancer Lizzie Gough in 2012. Escher’s work offers plentiful inspiration for musicians, based as it is around pattern, process, symmetry, reflection and transformation, and this music attempts to transpose into musical form the discoveries that Escher made in the visual realm. While some of the pieces are more or less programmatic “pictures” of Escher's quirky imaginary creatures, others take a more abstract approach to treating musical material in a way similar to Escher's treatment of visual material—seeking musical analogues of the elusive symmetries which so delighted him in the graphic arts.

Although Eleanor Turner and Alan Thomas are both classically trained musicians, they also are very interested in exploring new ways in which the “classical” can interact with other musical influences. Hence on this disc you will hear elements of jazz, pop and electronica alongside Romantic and “modern classical” approaches. A key tool in exploring this interaction is the computer, which forms the third part in what is essentially a trio performance of harp, guitar and computer. Rather than a sort of karaoke scenario in which the live instrumentalists simply played along to backing tracks, our goal was to create pieces that enabled flexibility and interaction between the instruments and the computer. While in some cases the computer does indeed play back pre-recorded drum or synthesiser parts, in others it modifies the material played by the live performers or else responds to it in more or less predictable ways, leaving the performers freedom to shape the music and interact with each other and the computer.