shift creates a net or a web in which everything is connected, in which the fundamental level is the connection itself rather than the “things” connected. And the unfolding of the piece (its shape or form) is the continual process of change (evolution/devolution/mutation) – the shifting – of these connections.

No sound per se is specified in the score, only the relations among the musicians. Each event produced by one musician arises in relation to those produced by the others, and has consequences for all the others.

Each musician plays an electronic “instrument” of his own design, which should have its own personal character and be clearly distinguishable from those of the others. He must listen attentively to the others and react, following a changing set of guidelines which is the score. Thus while he is free to play whatever sounds he wants, all his actions are conditioned by those of all the others around him, with and through whom he coexists.

shift was composed for the ensemble CLSI, who premiered the piece at Les Voûtes, Paris on 29 May 2009.