Ricercare una melodia - Jonathan Harvey

The piece was commissioned by the Park Lane Group. Ricercare means literally "to seek," and in musical usage it signifies a fugal, often rather strict, movement. Here, a five-part canon is obtained by means of a tape-delay system, and when the "sought-after" melody is "found," the canon is by progressive augmentation and at the interval of the octave.

Ricercare una melodia was written for Jonathan Impett and John Whiting. The first performance (on 10 January 1985 in the Purcell Room) was given by Jonathan Impett and the Park Lane Group.

Jonathan Harvey