Old Rags / Past Haunts

first performance: Ronan Apcar, The Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House AUS November 2025 — commissioned by Ensemble Offspring — instrumentation: piano, bluetooth speaker, samples — Duration 10′ / 2025

Old Rags / Past Haunts is dedicated to Ronan Apcar, for whom the piece was written. Rags refer to the early twentieth century African American musical style of ragtime that is referenced in the piece, of which syncopated or ‘ragged’ rhythms are a key stylistic component. It also refers to the construction of the piece, that is a sewing together of bits and pieces that reference music which developed out of ragtime, both stride piano (Fats Waller, James P Johnson, Art Tatum et al.) and 1960’s ragtime revivalism. There are also references to twelve-tone music via jazz chord upper extensions. Although my dad introduced me to recordings of Fats Waller when I was a kid in the 1970’s, the purpose of the piece is to serialise memory. (TM)

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