Antiarkie

Duration:

10’

My earliest exposure to orchestral music of any kind was through cartoons. Even now, the playful, frenetic, visceral and often discontinuous nature of much of this music remains an important aspect of my work. Antiarkie offers both a tribute to and commentary on this characterful music, which is often in itself a celebration of so many other musical styles.

The title refers to the composer, Scott Bradley, famous for his exuberant Tom and Jerry scores, who despite being from Arkansas was careful to point out he was not in fact an ‘Arkie’ – a diminutive term for a migrant worker from the state. There is also a suggestion of the Greek word ‘archi’, meaning authority or establishment. Considering Bradley spent much of his career as a relative outsider, dedicated to his own niche corner of the industry whilst remaining well in-tune with the ‘serious’ developments occurring within the European avant-garde, the invented term Antiarkie (read Anarchic) seems a suitably playful homage to his legacy.