Inspired by a Music Box: 'Three Short Turns'

Click above to hear all three movements on SoundCloud - or copy/paste this link:

https://soundcloud.com/pburnell/three-short-turns?si=1aed025b6e334f8fb4fe82df7fd89aa0&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Three Short Turns was composed simultaneously in versions for a music box, for recorder trio, and for a keyboard instrument such as piano, toy piano, or celesta.

The piece was written after receiving a gift of a music box mechanism that could be 'programmed' by punching holes into a paper strip, in the manner of a player piano paper roll, and played by moving the strip through the mechanism by turning a small handle. These features informed the range and spacing of the notes, and exploited the technique of interrupting the flow of the piece for pauses, and slowing or speeding tempo, by the way the handle is turned. The piece was adapted in minor ways in the versions for recorder trio and keyboard. Three movements were produced because the music box came with three identically-sized blank paper strips.

The sheet music for the Recorder Trio and Keyboard versions are available by searching 'Three Short Turns' on Sheet Music Plus, MusicaNeo and Score Exchange.