The Darkling Heave

Bass oboe, clarinet (bass clarinet), bassoon, horn, percussion,

*5 cymbals: high (1) - low (5) using 3 metal and 2 felt sticks,

hi-hat: using brushes, tam-tam: using normal and metal beaters,

3 gongs: high - medium - low, roto-tom, bass drum, cuica,

talking drum and *5 maracas

*cymbals 1, 3 and 5 played by string players, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th maracas

played by the horn and woodwind players.

piano (cel), viola, violoncello & double bass

14 minutes

Written for and first performed by The Continuum Ensemble

at the Warehouse, London, 7th November 2001.

“...A passage from George Mackay Brown's Northern Lights, in which marine life overpowers a fishing vessel  and revels in the death of one of the fishermen, inspired

this 'tone poem' in which the timbral range of a large ensemble is deployed to the full.

The convulsive opening gestures for piano and suspended cymbals, the alternating soliloquies for bass clarinet and bass oboe, and the stoical writing for strings and

tom-tom before the subdued close all were drawn into a 14-minute structure with a convincing overall trajectory. Surely a highlight among Continuum’s twenty-five

world premieres over its seven years of existence.”

Richard Whitehouse, November 2001