“Peel back the layers — what’s under the surface?

The roulette wheel spins and we follow, flying headlong into the frantic, fragmentary world beneath.

As we travel deeper, are we outside? What’s underfoot? Twigs cracking, water running, creaking, scurrying?

Rest for a moment — we’re in a real world whose reality is scarcely less surreal than before.

The crystal turns, the light scatters again, magnifying splinters of a microscopic frenzy.

Children play, voices shimmer in a haze.”

— Alistair MacDonald [06]

Peel was realized in April 1997 in the Electroacoustic Music Studios of the University of Birmingham (UK) and the studios of Northern College (Aberdeen, Scotland) and premiered on April 5, 1997 at the Midlands Arts Centre (Birmingham, UK). It was commissioned by the Birmingham ElectroAcoustic Sound Theatre (BEAST) with funds provided by West Midland Arts.

Composition

• April 1997, Electroacoustic Music Studios — University of Birmingham, Birmingham (England, UK)

Premiere

• April 5, 1997, Rumours… 97: New Directions — BEAST, Foyle Studio — Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham (England, UK)