To enable cars to drive the entire length of the transporter train which runs through the Channel Tunnel between France and the UK, the carriages are linked by overlapping floor panels and rubber gaskets. In motion, the friction between these elements creates a wealth of squeaks and squeals, all underpinned by the constant drumming of the wheels on the track. The space between the carriages (ie: inside the gaskets) is a wonderful place for listening (and recording)! The irony of composing a piece based on a major link between the UK and Europe at the very time that the Brexit negotiations were in their tense final phase (the stage referred to as ‘entering the tunnel’) was not lost on me.

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At the End of the Tunnel was realized in 2020-21 in the composer’s studio in Birmingham (England, UK) and premiered on June 5, 2022 in the Salle Molière of the Opéra Comédie in Montpellier (France), as part of the Klang! électroacoustique festival.

Création

• 5 juin 2022, Klang! électroacoustique 2022: Concert, Salle Molière — Opéra Comédie, Montpellier (Hérault, France)