Roger Butler

Arachnaphonia

The nimble fingers of harpists remind me of spiders weaving their deadly traps! I wrote 'Arachnaphonia' in the Far East as a 16th birthday present for my daughter Hannah, and she gave the first public performance shortly after. It employs some of the extended techniques I had previously experimented with, together with oriental sound colours. Durations of sections are only guidelines. Since most of the piece is 'lasciare vibrare', the resonance of both the instrument and the performance space should determine the optimum durations. Electronic amplification, as in the works of George Crumb, may be used. The piece is in mobile form; that is, each section is self contained and the order may be modified to produce the desired total duration. Total duration should be between 11 and 14 minutes.