Chrysalis envelops the performer in an electronic environment derived primarily from their own sound. The tape part, constructed from recordings of flute player Dana Parkhill, functions as a kind of cocoon: a resonant, protective membrane from which the flute seems to emerge. The relationship between flute and tape is therefore not merely accompanimental, but symbiotic: the electronics act as an extension of the performer’s breath, gesture and timbral identity, also hinting at the metallic construction of the instrument. Over the course of the work, this surrounding layer thins, densifies and transforms, creating a shifting sense of space and scale.
Chrysalis was composed while I was a student at Victoria University of Wellington, for my good friend Dana Parkhill.