This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
Francais (French)
The Equation of Time
Derek Charke, flute; Eugene Cormier, guitar; Celso Machado, percussion
Leaf Music, 2022
The Equation of Time is a thorough exploration of how listeners, performers, and composers experience music differently in relation to time. In the first six works, composed by Celso Machado, the upbeat nature of the Charke-Cormier Duo’s guitar and flute is complemented by the reserved and quiet percussion instruments, performed by Machado himself. The explicit presence of the rhythm emphasizes changes in the time signature, though the percussion’s low volume allows the Duo’s bouncy melodies to dominate the works, evoking the imagery of a pair of dancers following the rhythm of a song.
Throughout the four following works, Charke and Cormier move away from the percussion to discover their instruments as tools of performance. In Canzonna detta “la Bernardinia,” Charke tries unorthodox methods of blowing into the flute while Cormier’s guitar fills in the silence, as though he’s giving the flutist time to ponder his next experiment.
The album finishes with Charke’s titular four-work composition, which explores the relationship between the speed of instrumentation and the rate of melodic progression. In Slow-Slow Music, the performers give the listener time to feel every note and drift slowly through the melody, whereas in Fast-Fast Music, the instruments propel the listener through an ever-changing, high-energy melody.
The transformation of such an abstract concept as time into an easily digestible series of works is a testament to the Charke-Cormier Duo’s musical ingenuity.
This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en:
Francais (French)
