Myfyrdodau personol am y cyflwr dynol sydd wedi ysbrydoli cyfansoddiadau diweddaraf Richard McReynolds. Gan edrych i barhau’r thema yma, anelodd at greu gwaith sy’n ystyried emosiynau a’r meddwl. Wrth ymchwilio ar gyfer ei ddarn, darganfu ysgrifau’r Athro Robert Plutchik a gategoreiddiodd wyth emosiwn sylfaenol gan ddangos sut roeddent yn perthyn i’w gilydd drwy eu gosod mewn diagram o’r enw yr ‘olwyn emosiynau’. Deuai’r diagram hwn yn brif ysbrydoliaeth i’r offeryn a grëwyd gan Richard McReynolds ar gyfer Introspection. Mae ffurf y darn yn cael ei gyrru gan adweithiau emosiynol a ysgogir gan senarios ysgrifenedig a gyflwynir i’r perfformwyr — y maent yn ymateb iddynt ac yn eu dehongli gan ddefnyddio’r offeryn yma.

Personal reflections on the human condition have inspired Richard McReynolds’s most recent compositions. Looking to continue this theme, he aimed to create a work that considers emotions and the mind. While researching for his piece, he discovered the writings of Professor Robert Plutchik, who categorised eight basic emotions and displayed their relations by placing them in a diagram called the ‘wheel of emotions’. It was this diagram that became the main inspiration for the instrument created by Richard McReynolds for Introspection. The form of the piece is driven by emotional reactions which are triggered by written scenarios presented to the performers — which they interpret and react to using this instrument.

For many years Alan Chamberlain has been fascinated by Pen Dinas, an Iron Age hill fort close to his home in the village of Penparcau, near Aberystwyth. Through his studies he has endeavoured to better understand the site and the various ways in which people have used it. Pen Dinas in Voice explores the sonic possibilities of the hill fort by combining technology, field recordings, interviews and archaeological data. The composition consists of three sections, each with its own distinct sonic qualities, which represent the evolution and construction of the site. Like the differing interpretations of the fort’s significance and the multiple meanings it holds for those connected with it, the piece has been developed so that it can be performed in numerous ways. Within the piece there are elements which provide the structural ‘backdrop’, while the performers are given a series of audio ‘fragments’ which they can freely interpret. Despite the use of different approaches and techniques, the work retains recognisable elements each time it is performed.