Pattern, form and silence in “Amalgamations”, an extended duration work

The article examines Sophie Stone’s composition Amalgamations (2016), an extended duration work for solo organ. Pattern is explored in the form of both the notation and performance of the piece. The notation comprises verbal and graphic notation, with many possible combinations of instructions resulting in sustained sounds and silence. Amalgamations is non-linear and non-teleological.

Tim Ingold’s notion of ‘wayfaring’ provides a way of understanding how a performer may negotiate the notation. Due to the improvisatory and aleatoric elements of the piece, each performance will be different. Numerous types of silences will result from performances of Amalgamations and the experience of these silences are different and are determined by the sounds surrounding them.