WINGATE: METAPHYSICAL MONOLOGUE NO. 5 
for Contrabass Clarinet Solo

Date:
2021

Duration:
4'30"

Notes:
The fetchingly foggy depths of the contrabass clarinet are explored in this fifth of the Metaphysical Monologues, as well as the realm of the instrument’s elegant and subdued upper range. Using a ten-note pitch set in both transposition and rotation, this Monologue often employs pitches so low that they threaten to vibrate themselves apart. Repeated pedal tones sometimes act as anchors for the rest of the pitch material from the rotational arrays. And unlike the other Monologues, this one employs many extended techniques such as flutter tonguing, timbral trills (i.e. trilling between alternative fingerings for the same note, creating the spectre of a second instrument) and slap tongue (or ‘pop tongue’ – like a pizzicato for low clarinets). In some moments, the combined effect of descending pitch and slowing tempo is not unlike that of a tape recording being slowed down to the point of seizure during playback. The somewhat colorless tone quality in the high lyrical passages seem to convey a persistent philosophical doubt, while the contrasts in the lower passages are like the agile ramblings of a slow-speaking beast incessantly interrupting a sunken Buddhist chant.