James Weeks: Ærc: Streichorchester

James Weeks '  Ærc for any number of orchestral string instruments (at least 12). Composed and published 2016. Duration: 26-30 minutes. Ærc is the Old Engliosh word for ark, dervied from the Latin arca, a chest. Here it denotes an enclosed space, perhaps of refuge or safety, certainly of intimacy. As in the ark or Noah, the players are paired, entering the figurative space of the work two-by-two and creating a dense polyphonic texture (a giant viol consort) from breath-like bow-strokes, each pair in rythmic unison, before exiting in sequence.