In composing Triptych, I was concerned with limiting my timbral palette and focussing on heterorhythm and heterophony. I explore wooden colours in Panel I: Rose, metallic colours through the use of triangles and Peking gongs in Panel II: Silver, and a blend of wooden and metallic colours in Impulsion. The first two movements are studies in heterorhythm, with each player loosely following the same rhythmic trajectory whilst chiselling out more independent (though indefinitely-pitched) melodic contours.
The first half of the third movement, Impulsion, features an oscillating vibraphone gesture met by a marimba line that flourishes from an insistent, repeating pitch into busy pointillism. The second half of this movement offers some relief from the stasis inherent in the opening, building gradually into a heterophonic sound world that evokes Balinese gamelan music.
