ODD COUPLES 24 duos for unusual and unexpected musical pairings

An Online Composition

ODD COUPLES is a catalogue of 24 duos composed by Gordon Williamson in 2021/22. These miniatures explore a unique combination of voice and/or instruments, such as tuba and electric guitar, organ and harmonica or flexatone and trombone. Each piece is a brief musical exchange or encounter between two instruments that normally would not perform together, almost like a little ‘speed date’. ODD COUPLES is an online, interactive composition: one can peruse/surf through various duos in any order they choose. Each of the 24 links above opens a new page with an ODD COUPLE and at the bottom of each page are three suggestions of which video to see next. There is also a ‘home’ button, should one want to find their own unique path through the duos.

The concept for ODD COUPLES was developed in close collaboration with the visual artist Sascha Hahn. In addition to its online form, the work can also be performed as a ‘hybrid concert’, with some duos being performed live and other duos projected on screens. A mobile video set was developed for this purpose, with which the musicians documented their part audio-visually. Comparable to the notation of the pieces, the visual parameters were also given.

An initial impulse for the project was a creative response to the Corona pandemic and its challenges to international collaboration as well as the need to find a solution to the difficulty of filming concert music.  The duos were recorded in various cities in Europe and North America in 2021 and 2022. Enjoy a moment – or many moments – of discovery!