The Light of the World

The Light of the World for 12 solo strings was commissioned by the University of York and was completed in early 2003. The Light of the World was inspired by Christ’s description of himself: ‘I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life’ (John 8:12).

The music is characterized by slow ascending sequences of perfect fifths creating a flow of continuity. The opening of the piece wavers within the space of a perfect fifth, and gradually it opens up the sound space. The pre-determined pitch structure was devised to play the sequences of perfect fifths on open strings by each instrument. Open strings of perfect fifths are constantly coloured by timbral variations on other strings, such as natural harmonics, fingernail pizzicato, gettato, extreme sul ponticello tremolo and molto vibrato. The luminous sonority of the open strings and richness of their sound lead the piece towards the end where the mystical ascension unfolds in the extreme high register.