Programme Note
This is the first of three short pieces for clarinet and piano commissioned by the clarinetist Peryn Clement-Evans, with funds made available by the Arts Council of Wales. It was first performed at the Wrexham Festival in May 1997.
‘Pull up if I pull up’ as the title suggests is, like my six piano piece ‘Never Odd or Even’, a palindrome (something which is the same backwards as it is forwards). Indeed it shares with ‘Never Odd or Even’ the same harmonic structure. The keyboard parts have three series of chords each of which is palindromic. The harmony moves to a central point and then is exactly reversed. The tuned percussion parts meanwhile each have a single span. They are also reversed exactly from the middle but, in this instance, only the the rhythm is treated palindromically, the choice of notes being free. This strict procedure is applied to material which is essentially playful and light.
‘Pull up if I pull up’ is also available in a version for two pianos (or keyboards) and two marimbas.