Instrumentation: solo piano and pre-recorded CD
Length: 10’06″
Date: July, 2010

This is music of longing and anticipation. The right hand and the left struggle to synchronise, now succeeding, now failing to coincide. The primary rhythmic figure – a restless polyrhythm of two beats in the right hand for every three in the left, should recall the onward rush of the titular river. The driving rhythm leads us towards a sense of catharsis, and perhaps resolve. ­

Haunting Lomax includes a field-recording of an American Prison Chain Gang by Alan Lomax, which is emitted from off-stage source. It is a haunting statement; an allegorical nod to our collective driving sense of spirit towards a sense of tomorrow.

Alan Lomax (January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain. This piece is a ode to Lomax, and the powerful music he champion

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(performance by Michael Vincent)