Origin Jaw for cello and vibraphone
Origin Jaw began as a transcription of ceremonial flute duo music from Papua New Guinea contained on the 1977 Voyager “Golden Record” called "Mariumangi".
As an outsider experiencing Papua New Guinean culture through the shallow context of this recording, in my work, I have intercepted the Golden Record and imagined how an alien culture might attempt to express the musical material within their own context - unfolding rich harmonies and manipulating the pure resonance of cello harmonics and pulsing vibraphone to approximate the gentle flute overtones of the recording.
The dualism of the Iatmul culture from which the original is taken manifests in the playful interlocking perpetual motion of the original pair of flutes, and work derives its title Origin Jaw from the Iatmul creation myth in which a great crocodile erupts from the chaos of infinite water and their jaw is then cleaved into the heavens and earth.