Skewed
"Skewed" is a 60-minute suite of original music depicting my experiences with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), as well as the perspectives of other artists living with or affected by ASD. The suite is made up of two sets with two types of movements: "Timeline" and "Sin" movements. The Timeline movements are a series of solo piano compositions depicting a typical personality affected by ASD in various stages of life: early years; child; teenager and adult, entitled "Daunting"; "Analysing"; "Learning" and "Inspiring", respectively. The "Sin" movements, on the other hand, are nonet-ensemble pieces depicting each of the Seven Deadly Sins, although in this context, they are in no way treated as "sins!" Instead, I have used the ideas surrounding each sin to represent an aspect of an autistic individual's personality, some of which are highlighted in the Timeline movements. All the movements come together to illustrate a person with ASD, not only in terms of learning about the world they're in and the people around them, but also learning more about themselves and how they can develop into the best person they can be.
The following are a series of remote recordings of a handful of the movements in this suite. I hope to publish the whole suite as an album in the near future, but for now here are some excerpts as a taster! I hope you enjoy it.
Intro - A Recurring Face
This is the introductory movement to the whole suite, repurposing a fairly recent composition to suit the nonet ensemble. I wanted to have this movement be a brief glimpse at the "present" before going into the first Timeline movement, "Daunting", which depicts the early years of one's life. This piece shows a sense of contentment for the world the individual is in, but also having the confidence to thrive in this world.
I - Daunting
The first Timeline movement of the suite, representing the early stages of life. For an individual affected by ASD, this can be a very intimidating time as everything is new to them, with lots of stimuli to become easily overwhelmed by. The piece features this, with lots of sustained dissonances and fleeting passages that can't all be processed at once by the individual. In this suite, the Timeline movements feature a "conversation" section depicting a typical dialogue between an adult and the autistic individual, represented by a series of improvised variations on themes from the Sin movements. Here, the conversation is rather one-sided, as the child may not have the facility to respond, so their side of the dialogue (represented by the right hand on the piano, generally in the mid/high register) is fragmented and, at times, silent.
II - Analysing
The next Timeline movement concerns the child years, where now the individual is more accustomed to their world as they see it. In an attempt to understand more, the individual analyses the mannerisms, activities and influences of their relatives and contemporaries, with mixed success (as social situations present a great challenge, where this analysis would take place). In any event, the individual is exploring new ideas and territories and therefore growing as a person, so despite the occasional tensions present in the "conversation" section of this movement, the ending is overall hopeful - as they look forward to learning more and applying their knowledge.
III - Learning
Moving onto the Teenager years, things start to get more complicated - a lot of new experiences, events, people and situations that the individual is perhaps not comfortable with, and therefore this is perhaps the most dissonant and fragmented of the Timeline movements. The individual is certainly a more comfortable speaker at this point, and shows facility in their varied response in the "conversation" segment. To finish the movement there is a gradual build to a sudden stop, showing the individual becoming overwhelmed in a similar way to "Daunting" before quickly retreating back into their safe space.
IV - Inspiring
Concluding the Timeline movements is the final stage: adulthood. This piece is an amalgamation of the themes and ideas present in the previous Timeline movements, with a rendition of the ending of "Daunting" to open the movement, followed by a small reprise of "Intro - A Recurring Face". This is a movement for the individual to reflect on their past experiences, reminding themselves what they learnt since and how far they've come. Similar to "Analysing", there is a sense of hope for the individual at the end of the movement, displaying strong ambition.
Sloth
One of the "Sin" movements, featuring a laid-back groove and a simple, concise harmonic structure, depicting the individual's reluctance to push past their own boundaries. An autistic individual finds comfort in what they know and what they have experienced, and this reluctance to explore new horizons can feel like a towering obstacle to overcome. However, with enough time they can muster the courage to take risks (shown in the improvised solos as well as the final bridge section) and sometimes they succeed - adding a new positive experience to their 'mental catalogue'. The ending reflects this, as everything winds back down from the exciting high of the bridge section, to a neutral content state where the individual is glad they took the risk.