‘Circuits’ is a piece born from an ongoing exploration of collaborative compositional processes. Our objective was to work abstractly with different kinds of energetic flows, a concept for which we took inspiration from electrical circuits. Open circuits cause an electrical current to stagnate, while closed circuits allow it to flow, an idea that informed the composition on several levels.

Our process in creating this piece was divided into three steps. Firstly, we collectively agreed on a rigorous structural framework without any preconception of musical material. Secondly, each player worked individually on materials for their own instrument before we finally regrouped to insert these materials into the original structure. 

Most of the piece is played only by subsets of the ensemble, which is conceived of as a circuit in itself. It generates a musical tension through its openness that lends an energetic gravitas to the fewer moments of tutti. For sections using sub-sets of the group, we devised our materials completely independently from one another, whilst the material in the tutti passages was written according to strict guidelines and after extensive discussion. As a result, the sparser sections have an edgier and more antagonistic feeling which stands in contrast to the homogeneous energetic flow of the fuller moments.