Grounds for Action

Grounds For Action (1991)

for chamber orchestra

2 fl; 2 ob; 2 cl; 2 bsn
2 hn; 2 tpt
timpani
strings

Duration: 6 minutes

Grounds For Action is a set of grounds, or passacaglias, first conceived in the 80s
as a ‘systems’ work with overlapping Baroque lines.

The original score was commissioned by Moving Being Theatre Company in 1988 for In Düsseldorf and Nebraska, a mixed media performance in memory of the German artist Joseph Beuys, whose work reflected concepts of humanism and sociology.

During the performance, the music accompanied the actions of three artists/technicians who intermittently manipulated the performance space to create new spatial structures.

The orchestral version was first performed by the Welsh College of Music and Drama Chamber Orchestra at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff on 15 November 1991.