Prometheus, one of the Olympian gods, stood with Zeus and the Titans to fight against the older race of Olympian gods. However, Zeus’s neglect of mankind forced Prometheus to give mortals the knowledge of fire. For this, Prometheus was condemned to be nailed to a rock and have an eagle peck at his liver for eternity. This story has many evocative images which initiated a multitude of ideas in the initial stages of composition. The most significant parallel between the story and the music is that the old and young form a partnership to create a different order. Likewise the Orchestra and tape are two mediums, ages apart, that come together with equal importance to form a unified soundworld. The inherent difficulties of producing one soundworld without illustrating the restrictions of either medium, in context to the other, is something that was always at the front of my mind. All the sounds on tape are taken from various instruments in the orchestra and transformed in some way. The purpose is to extend the already expansive soundworld that the instruments are capable of producing. The orchestral soundworld is increased with extensive use of extended techniques and some unusual notation. Orchestra and tape have been composed simultaneously and are of equal importance in the performance of Prometheus. The composition is not a programmatic narrative, rather, it is a journey through the timbral possibilities of the orchestra.
Prometheus for Orchestra, and Computer 1999
Instrumentation:
Date:
Orchestra and Computer
1999
Duration:
12 mins
Technical Information
Performances:
Programme Note
World Premiere: National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music, Whitla Hall, Belfast, 2001
 
Broadcast Live on RTE Lyric FM and recorded and broadcast by BBC Radio Ulster