Alex Petcu comes from a musical family based in Cork. Alex has been a regular visitor to the Festival for many years. He gave us this introduction to his programme.

For this programme, I wanted to select music that would work particularly well in a filmed context. In a live setting, large contrasts, surprises and dramatic pauses can often be very effective. These tend to not be quite as impactful when viewing on a screen; however film offers the opportunity to emphasize other qualities that may be otherwise overlooked. Clever viewing angles and a close-up view can offer the audience a chance to see as well as hear in detail the various patterns in the music, thus making the connection between visual and aural very close. For example, Velocities by Joseph Schwantner, which opens the concert, is a moto-perpetuo for marimba based on interlocking patterns and shifting metres. Being able to clearly see the mallets striking the bars means that the audience can see the patterns that are happening as well as hear them. The same is true for other works in the programme such as Koshinski’s Swerve for snare drum, where so much is based on an exploration of intricate techniques. Having a close-up view in this case is invaluable.