Commission and Premiere: A Self-Portrait (Couperin)

Music by Matthew Sergeant, premiered by Adam Swayne (piano and electronics),
Stoller Hall, Manchester, UK (20 Aug 2023)

It’s not a self-portrait of me [MS] but it might have something of that ilk for a number of other parties. Derived from François Couperin’s B minor passacaglia (Pièces de Clavecin, Livre II, 8me ordre, 1717), the electronic component of A Self-Portrait is made from digital attempts to reconstruct the sound of the Couperin original in performance (a performance given by pianist Adam Swayne, for whom this piece was written) using audio grains from selections of the ‘100 Most Influential Albums of All Time’. The live pianist finds ways to engage with the resulting mangle. An image of Couperin’s original drowning in the superabundance of music in our digital musical world emerged. Reaching and seething through some kind of viscous membrane. So maybe it’s a self-portrait of Couperin; or maybe one of Spotify. (2022)