Kenny: Secret House

Exploits the multiphonics of the female voice, singing, verse reading and percussion. Secret House originally formed a central part of a 90 minute multi-media music theatre piece called "The Secret House" involving dance puppetry, live film manipulation, ambisonic sound projection, theatre and music commissioned by Duff House at Banff in Scotland, and premiered there on November 16th 2000. The piece was conceived, composed and directed by myself, choreographed by Eric Tessier-Lavigne, and filmed by John McGeoch. Eight performers led an itinerant audience throughout the entire space of Duff House, an imposing baroque mansion commissioned by William Duff, Lord Braco, from the brilliant Scottish architect William Adam in 1735. Making use of stairwells, corridors, chambers, and eventually focusing on extended ballets performed in two great drawing rooms, our attempt was to examine the complex relation of human to house, as shell, shelter, prison, projection of ego - as well as exploring the huge variety of acoustics and atmospheres presented by such a magnificent structure. These two dance theatre pieces were scored respectively for male bass trombonist with two dancers, and a duo for female trombonist with female dancer. At the premier, Emily White played trombone, with dancer Patricia Hines. Secret House is my fifth sonata for solo trombone. I decided to score it specifically for female trombonist for several reasons: firstly, there are an increasing number of girls taking up the trombone, and consequently of top class professional trombonists world-side. Secondly, much of the existing contemporary repertoire which makes use of vocal multi-phonics has been conceived for the male voice - it can be transposed, but the resultant tone colour is very different. However, this problem is also a wonderful opportunity: the female voice used within the trombone is essentially a different instrument, with a range of pitch and timbre unavailable to the male player. This piece could be transposed by a man, but the effect would be very altered. Thirdly, the theatrical concept of this piece requires a female performer to achieve psychological and emotional impact. As with the fourth unaccompanied trombone sonata, Bamburgh Beach, the music is intimately bound to the spoken word. My three poems are a response to the task of reflecting concepts of "house" as shelter, womb, icon. The first two are integrated into the music, the third narrated unaltered - the music which follows is a reflection on the poem just as the poem is an historic and personal reflection. The trombonist must speak, sing, play various percussion instruments, and make dramatic use of the space and physical gesture - a considerable challenge. It should also be remembered that whilst Secret House was always intended to stand as a recital solo, it was originally conceived as a duo with dancer. The choreography of Eric Tessier-Lavigne transported the piece onto a different plane, and it is my hope that it may also be reinterpreted in this form in the future. Secret House is dedicated to Emily White