My Time is Your Time (2020) for quarter-tone accordion

NEW! CD Recording of My Time is Your Time on ISPILU by Lore Amenabar Larrañaga, quarter-tone accordion available now!

In his last years, Donald Bousted was, perhaps ominously, dealing with the issue of ’Time’ in two works—Time Dreaming (2017-20) for three 19-division(s of the octave) trumpets, and My Time is Your Time for quarter-tone accordion. As a composer and artist he always made the most of his ‘creative time’—composing, filming, photographing.

The front cover of the score looks like a planetary photo—pieces of asteroids flying around in space—reminiscent of his Lockdown short films of August/September, 2020. I remember Don telling me very excitedly about a quarter-tone accordionist, ‘an extremely good player’ he had been in contact with. He was to write a piece for her specially-built instrument. Don loved virtuosity, as very much reflected by this sometimes fantastically ‘murmering’, manic piece. This polymetric material is contrasted starkly with ‘Chorale’ passages, ‘floating, sequential’, which are to create a ‘still, tense, oppressive’ atmosphere. Pauses are marked ‘Long’ or ‘Very Long’ (c.15”)—similar to instances in Don’s 19.5 for 19-div trumpet and malletKAT (2012-14; revised 2018-19)—where the performer has the opportunity to really take their time, and—as Don instructs the accordionist—to ‘sing’ and ‘let us hear your breath’.