Thimble Trance

A repetitive, close-woven piece for harpsichord and fixed electronics, written for the harpsichordist Goška Isphording — for some years Głowicka’s neighbour in Eindhoven, and the reason several harpsichord works exist at all.

The instrument is treated less as a keyboard than as a plucking mechanism: short identical gestures accumulate until the ear stops hearing individual notes and starts hearing the pattern they make, with the electronics extending the resonance the harpsichord itself cannot sustain.

It has since entered the repertoire of the British harpsichordist Jane Chapman, who performed it at the York Spring Festival of New Music in 2013 alongside Saariaho’s Jardin Secret II and Ligeti’s Continuum.

Originally conceived as a dance piece, with choreography by the composer, it is scored for dancer, playback and harpsichord. The dancer strikes, gently touches and moves around the instrument, and the electronic sounds of the playback are all drawn from the harpsichord world. The result is an eruption of colours and gestures. The first performance was given by Jane Chapman on 13 March 2007 as part of SPNM’s Artistic Series 2006/7, curated by Rolf Hind; the piece was realised at the Sonic Arts Research Centre in Belfast.

A companion piece, White Dust (2010), is also for harpsichord and electronics.