PRESS PLAY Episode 52: Group Hug

October 24, 2024
Group Hug* (2024)

Alexander Bridger (CA), composer

Tristan Durie, flute
Anthony Thompson, clarinet
Carol Lynn Fujino, violin
Paul Widner, cello
Geoffrey Conquer, piano
Ryan Scott, percussion
Gregory Oh, conductor

Presented as part of PIVOT 2024 with the Canadian League of Composers and the Canadian Music Centre
Jason Noble (CA), composer mentor

Programme Note:
The title of the piece was originally conceived during the pandemic to be the name of a hypothetical band that myself and my mentor, Jason Noble, would eventually form once the curfews had been lifted. When the opportunity arose for us to work together on this piece, it seemed fitting for the work to bear that joyous title. Rather than settle for a work amounting to little more than a celebratory victory lap, Group Hug seeks to evoke the polarity between anticipatory tension and warm gratification. The music playfully capitalizes on the well-entrenched trope of the snare drum roll as a signifier of anticipation. The gratification of community and friendship is rendered via a harmonic language which evokes the anticipatory sonority of orchestral tuning. As the music oscillates between the tension and release signified by these sounds, draconian intrusions of sharp percussive attacks threaten to derail the discourse at every turn.

* world premiere

This piece was presented as part of the PIVOT program in partnership with the Canadian League of Composers and the Canadian Music Centre.

Ensemble photos: Nicola Betts