Score 0-571-51794-3 on sale, parts for hire

The theory of hidden variables - largely rejected in the world of particle physics - is (to simplify it absurdly) an attempt to remove from quantum mechanics its inherent, and - to the layman - disturbing uncertainty. It would be pretentious in the extreme to try to mirror this in music. In this piece various styles, some more fashionable than others (including my own) collide and give rise to unexpected juxtapositions, and the title implies little more than that there is something going on beneath the surface. The form of the work is a 13-minute Scherzo, which consists of a set of interlocking variations, with an unvarying time signature (6/4) and same very fast tempo throughout.

CM

‘Matthews exults in cunning references to contemporary musical fads, but his work has its own dynamic originality.’
The Daily Telegraph (Geoffrey Norris), 28 September 1992

'A big, brash and colourful orchestration of a chamber piece which has its cake and eats it by sending up the likes of Reich and Nyman along the way while at the same time relishing what it parodies...an invigorating opener.'
The Independent (Robert Maycock), 30 September 1992