Resounding expands outwards from the closing tolls of Ringing Down the Sun (2001-02). The title refers to the ringing of resonant sounds, the filling of space with sound, and to the notion of re-sounding, as heard in the cyclic rhythms of resonances, prolonged, decaying, or sent travelling through the listening space. Spatially, two ideas prevail — resonance heard as if from the interior of objects of varying dimensions, and the external resonance of spaces as experienced, for instance, in a large church. The idea of sounding again is also reflected in the formal progress of the piece, which focuses on the return of materials in changed surroundings.

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Resounding was realized between 2003 and ’04 at the composer’s studio in London (England, UK), and premiered on April 28, 2004, during the Sonorities Festival at Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC) — Queen’s University in Belfast (Northern Ireland, UK); the festival was then celebrating the opening of the SARC. It was commissioned by the Sonorities Festival, with funding from the National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Premiere

• April 28, 2004, Sonorities 2004: Denis Smalley, Sonic Arts Research Centre — Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast (Northern Ireland, UK)