An Auscultation of Water

Reuben writes: “The word auscultation describes the process of a physician listening to the body of a patient, usually through a stethoscope, in order to gather information about the health of the heart and respiratory system. An Auscultation of Water is one of a series of planned works the idea of auscultation is used as a metaphor for a sonic exploration of a particular idea or concept; in this case the idea of water. “As an avid field recordist and student of soundscape studies, I’m fond of capturing the sounds of water in various guises and locales: streams and rivers, waves, snow, rainfall, and so on. In this piece I attempt to translate this fascination with water into the sound world of the instruments of the piano trio. The sounds and musical textures are inspired by its mutability and flow, and are also a reflection on its significance as a life-sustaining force.“

An Auscultation of Water was commissioned by NZTrio with funding from Creative New Zealand.