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Robert Scott Thompson

Bells Do Not Ring but the Air Listens Anyway

Bells Do Not Ring but the Air Listens Anyway

Flute, Cello, and Harp

Composer's Note:

Bells Do Not Ring but the Air Listens Anyway is a meditative, atmospheric work for flute, cello, and harp trio that draws its primary inspiration from two seemingly disparate yet spiritually allied musical figures: Erik Satie and Morton Feldman. From Satie comes the conceptual impetus of musique d’ameublement—"furniture music"—a notion that challenged traditional expectations of music as foregrounded entertainment. Feldman contributes a sensibility of temporal suspension, evanescence, and delicate unpredictability—a sonic language that resists climax and instead invites the listener to dwell within the sound itself.

Described by the composer as a form of "ambient chamber music," the piece seeks to occupy a space somewhere between presence and absence—foreground and background. Its aesthetic is intentionally minimal, open, and even barren at times, encouraging multiple forms of attention. It is music that rewards close listening, yet equally permits the mind to wander. It is both there and not-there—like an aural mirage that shifts with the listener's focus.

Structured in two sections of approximately eight minutes each, Bells Do Not Ring but the Air Listens Anyway can be performed in whole or in part, depending on the context of the performance. Each section may stand alone or be paired together, allowing for flexible programming. The piece is designed to accommodate a variety of performance formats: from traditional chamber recitals in proscenium settings to antiphonal configurations in resonant spaces, to more experimental modes involving amplification and multichannel sound diffusion. Performers are invited to explore these interpretive possibilities freely; staging, spatialization, and technical augmentation are left to their discretion.

The compositional materials are spare and deliberately constrained. Long, looping figures—subtly shifting and intersecting—form a kind of living mobile, reminiscent of the kinetic sculptures of Alexander Calder. The synchrony of the instruments is not mechanical, but organic: parts align, drift apart, and realign in gentle cycles of transformation. Each gesture is imbued with breath and silence, forming an environment that is less about progression than it is about presence.

Bells Do Not Ring but the Air Listens Anyway invites us into a contemplative sonic environment—an acoustic space where the familiar contours of chamber music are rendered translucent, and time seems to loosen its grip. It is music not only to be heard, but to be inhabited.


Movements: 2

Authored (or revised): 2025

Published: 2025

Duration (minutes): 16

Book format: Score + 3 Parts


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