Dreams of Déjà Vu

Instrumentation

Cello and computer-generated tape

Other Information

Dreams of Déjà Vu (1984) for amplified cello and computer-generated tape. The main influence behind the work is an image, both visual and aural, of a small jazz ensemble performing in a proverbial smoky, heady atmosphere, surrounded by strong-coloured lights. The image is balanced by the exact opposite – an infinite atmosphere of freedom and space. In the more improvisatory sections, particularly in the Introduction, the solo instrument could be taken to symbolise the saxophone.

The backing tape for the work was realised at Clockhouse Studios at Keele University and is a combination of eight digital sound samples, taken from the cello – bowed pitches, bowed normal and harmonic glissandi, pizzicato, col legno, left-hand striking of the strings. In the studio, the sounds were treated in various ways prior to their inclusion in the composition. the work was first performed at Keele University in 1984.