Humanity is an ocean.

Instrumentation: indeterminate.
Total number of performers: at least two.
Duration: indeterminate.
Notation: text score.

Written in response to world events at the time, Drops is a distillation of the tension that can be found is musical works. Two parties come into conflict and one prevails. The degree to which this conflict plays out is left to the participants – the notation is deliberately vague on this point. On the surface, this is an easy piece to perform. With more nuanced planning, however, the musicians can pivot the work into a scenario where they toy with the audience’s emotions.

The two times I have performed this piece I have received markedly different audience reactions. There were three key differences between them: the gentle song that I played, the choice of disruptor, and the degree of disruption. In the first performance, I played a soft, gentle version of This Land Is Your Land, a staple of my upbringing in the United States. However, the song is practically unknown in the North of England, and thus there was no cultural context — it was just a pretty song. Thus, my intention to make a political statement through the piece were limited. Upon the advice of my students, in the second performance I played an instrumental version of John Lennon’s Imagine. The political implications of my musical choice were much more apparent in this (again UK) performance context.

The choice of disruptor was a far greater decision than I had anticipated. In the first performance, my collaborator was a fellow Music lecturer. As he was well-known to the majority of the audience, his congenial and playful non-performative character shone through. Compounded by our close friendship, the audience reported that they viewed the performance as a fun situation where we were joking around together. I was somewhat dismayed by this, as I was attempting to make a serious statement. Thus, in the second performance, I attempted to find someone who would be unknown to the majority of the audience. Working with a member of the Drama staff, I made contact with a final-year student who was interested in this type of performance. I deliberately chose not to personally meet him beforehand and only corresponded via email. Consequently, at the performance both I and the audience were surprised by the disruptor and were rather uncertain of what he would do.

The more I perform, the more I appreciate taking risks on stage. To that end, I was open with my first disruptor about how much I was willing to undergo. He was rather cautious about this angle of the performance, and in the end disrupted more annoyingly than malevolently. Although this was still accurate to the score, it did not quite achieve the pointedness that I felt the performance needed. In preparing for the second performance, I emailed my disruptor the following information:

We’ll aim for the piece to be up to 10 minutes, but I’m happy to let you gauge the pacing as need be.
I do need to play on another piece on the programme, so if you do tend towards physical violence (not a phrase I was anticipating emailing to a student) please at least mind the fingers.
Verbal abuse is ok.
Unless you have experience putting the lid down on the piano, please do not do so – it can be a bit tricky, and if not correctly done, might break. In general, please don’t break the piano.
Wear whatever you like – please be clothed.
I will prevail throughout the piece, so the effective end of the piece is when you give up.

The ensuing performance was extremely dramatic. The disruptor slowly stalked me from the audience, eventually circling around me on stage. Aggressive gestures gave way to shoving and attempting to pull my hands away from the piano. Climatically, the disruptor put me in a choke hold whilst I was playing and, as I persevered, physically ripped me from the piano. After a tense face-off, I repeatedly whispered ‘it’s ok’ to him. His aggressive demeanour broke down and I embraced and comforted him.

Ultimately, the second performance exuded danger from physical violence and the malevolent actions of a stranger. I would be interested to see how others interpret this piece; if you perform it, please let me know!