Time’s Arrow is a phrase coined by the British astronomer Arthur Eddington in 1928 to describe the effect of time, forwards and backwards, on physical processes.  He noted that the one-way property of time, which has no analogy in space, is found in physics only when observing changes in degrees of randomness in a given system (otherwise known as ‘entropy’).  All other physical processes are, in theory, ‘time symmetric’ – in other words, they are the same both forwards and backwards.

Our consciousness, on the other hand, has an acute awareness of the direction of time, as Eddington knew.  In terms of human experience (such as the performance of a piece of music) time is irreversible.  The arrow of time points from past to future, and the experience of events (or music) unfolding makes no ense at all if it is reversed.  To some extent, the process of writing a piece allows the composer to step outside this notion of time and to define relationships that refer both forwards and backwards within the timeline of the music.

The ‘arrow of time’ has been applied to thermodynamics, particle physics, cosmology, acoustics, and many other disciplines.  Just as these fields of scientific research look at disparate states and the processes that affect them over time (order versus randomness, heat versus cold, energy versus inertia), my piece explores contrasting musical states where strictly notated rhythms are juxtaposed with more freely improvised sections of music, where order and randomness of pitch co-exist.

The word ‘synapse’ comes from the Greek: ‘syn’ meaning ‘together’ and ‘haptein’ meaning ‘to clasp’.  In the field of neuroscience, the term ‘synapse’ refers to the tiny gap between neurons in the nervous system.  Across this gap signals (chemical neurotransmitters) are transmitted between neighbouring neurons in the form of ‘stop’ or ‘go’ messages.  The status of the message is defined by the concentration of positively or negatively charged ions entering the receiving neurons.

 
The concept of a ‘musical synapse’ is represented in this piece by the apparent gap between sounds that emanate from the real instruments of the orchestra and the electronic sound-world that is triggered, articulated and shaped by the orchestral instruments.  In some respects the triggering of these sounds parallels the ‘stop’/‘go’ messages of the synaptic nerves.  The electronic timbres comprise materials which were pre-composed in the studio and sounds of the orchestra which are transformed in real-time during the performance.

“Synapse” is in one continuous movement with musical ideas derived from a single scale which traverses the entire range of the orchestra from contrabassoon to piccolo.  This ‘super-scale’ provides a degree of harmonic focus for the work and characterises the many complex textures that are explored by the orchestral forces.

The work was commissioned by RTE for the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.  Much of the initial work on the piece was undertaken during a residency at The Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig, County Monaghan.

Crossing the Threshold brings together my interest in conventional and unconventional sound sources through the interaction of musician and computer. The title relates to both musical and technical ideas of the piece. In the former case it reflects the division of musical ideas into conventional and unconventional playing techniques: throughout the piece the violin explores techniques that are on the boundary or threshold of the sound worlds of pitch and noise. In the latter case the title refers to the process of interaction: the violin is tracked by the computer and interacts with the performer when certain thresholds of loudness are crossed.

The work is dedicated to Darragh Morgan and was commissioned with funds from the Arts Council of Ireland.