cloud thoughts (2017)

for children from Oak CE Primary School and Howard Park Community School

On the morning of the last day of August I performed a piece through nautical and civil twilight, beginning at 4:51am and ending at 6:14am. I opened the windows to catch the first birdsong and watch the sky lighten through the performance. I installed the piece at an art event two days later and asked that it only be heard by people visiting in the morning. I titled the piece clear thoughts (31.08.17). A single word is split on two notes over a piano chord, between traffic sounds and the sounds of my fridge. There are hardly any birds at all.

The children from Oak CE Primary School are performing through the end of nautical twilight this evening. Their recorder quartet are performing the two notes from clear thoughts (31.08.17) over a counter motive composed for this performance. The children from Howard Park Community School will begin performing at the start of astronomical twilight this evening. If the curtains are closed or the street lamps are too bright, we can imagine the sky changing colour around us.

Eleanor Cully, 2017