Wrought

The occupation of shipbuilding, especially the type undertaken by the men and women of Glasgow and towns along the Clyde river during the Second World War inspired the creation of this work.

The piece opens with stark, abrasive, percussive material; almost pitchless in tone. Every element in the piece acts as its own individual cell, and is regenerated in small, minimal developmental stages. This is borrowed from industrial processes such as assembly lines and other 19th- and 20th-century construction methods. The goal: a single arrival point. Like the shipbuilders at John Brown Company and other large shipyard companies, every worker was integral to the final product. This piece, therefore, aims to illustrate how many different types of rhythmic, melodic, timbral and textual element can, through small developmental process, build into a colossal output that is, on the whole, larger than the sum of its parts. To illustrate this further, the entire work is centred around a single note - E-flat above middle C, in order to fully show all the musical elements and their developmental processes without any harmonic distractions.

Through strength and steel, Wrought sonically narrates work; specifically, that of the combined efforts of Clydebank's thousands of workers, builders and engineers who gave their all, and in some cases, their lives during times of conflict.