The Stones of the Arch

Note on solo improviser - There is an optional part for a solo improviser working ideally with simple live electronics. For the first performance this was Philip Jeck, who works with vinyl records on old gramophone turntables. The improvisation should start before the score proper and overlap the opening section up to the first vocal entry. Thereafter he is free to play at any time but should certainly be more prominent in the interlude between the two poems, and at the end, which can be prolonged by holding the last string chord indefinitely while the improvisation continues.