Tesserae (a graphic score in G minor)
previously-played cello strings and violin bow hair, 22-carat goldpoint, graphite, acrylic paint and 24-carat gold leaf on wood panels
panels ranging in size from 20cm - 51cm side, arranged for display however the performers wish
February 2026
Commissioned and performed by Hard Rain Soloists Ensemble
New Music Dublin - National Concert Hall - 17th April 2026
Sonorities - Sonic Arts Research Centre, Belfast -18th April 2026
Tesserae (a graphic score in G minor) is a visual mosaic of musical fragments and references, both overt and oblique. Holding echoes of past performances, previously-played strings and violin bow hair add narrative, while subtle inversions of light, shadow and depth of field encourage reflection on perspective and interpretation. Free to hang the five panels of Tesserae any way they wish, players can respond uniquely to different venues and environments, creating a new mosaic with each performance.
Close-ups of Tesserae at SARC, Belfast - on LED screens framing the stage behind the players (above), and the real thing displayed at the entrance to the performance space (below).
The Journal of Music in Ireland said of the Dublin performance :
The second piece, Tesserae (a graphic score in G minor) by Ioana Petcu-Colan, was based on the mystical concept that echoes of past sounds are contained in the remnants of the instruments that played them. Petcu-Colan visualised this idea using the previously played strings of David McCann’s cello and the bow hair of Petcu-Colan’s own violin bow that were stretched over a number of attractive canvases positioned around the stage. The interpretation of these images by McCann on cello, Aisling Agnew on flute and Watts on contrabass clarinet resulted in some really fine polyphonic and timbral ideas bookended by a nice flute melody over some cross-string bowing.
All set for the performance at the National Concert Hall, Dublin…