thresholds to imaginary gates
15 flutes (3picc. / 8fl. / 2afl. / 2bfl.)
2026
duration: 12'
Commissioned by Lucy Rowan for the RCM Flute Faculty.
thresholds to imaginary gates was premiered on the 27th of February 2026 at the Royal College of Music by members of the flute faculty, conducted by Jacob Cavendish.
thresholds to imaginary gates reflects on an infinite passing of thresholds we experience throughout our day, month, year, and lives. Utilising the spectral analysis of a metal gate, bell ringing patterns, and the patterns used for ornate iron gates, this piece fluctuates between the surreal and hyperreal where opposing deviations of notes sound in unison and its surrounding harmonic context rests on tentative consonance.
In writing this piece I became inspired by the work of Julie Lacerda, and her process of creating what she describes as “pixel gates.” In these works she uses photographs of ornate gates and adds a map of pixels over them, reducing the obscuring the designs to series of squares. The obscuring of something we as the viewer know to be present was the catalyst for the piece. In my thinking for this piece and my reflection on thresholds we pass throughout our lives (both physically and metaphorically) I wanted to translate Lacerda’s process into the inherently time-based media of music rather than visual art. The result of this was the obscuring something we as the viewer/listener know to be present, but do not have yet; we must pass the threshold to obtain and experience it.
© 2025 Thomas Shorthouse
