Propulsive Instability

Propulsive Instability captures a raw sense of desperate urgency. Its relentless, restless rhythms evoke a wild fixation — like a predator in pursuit, stalking and hunting. The music immerses you in the feeling of running beyond your limits, caught in a panicked state of unending forward motion.

“Perpetually erratic, imbued with a terrible need to press forward, Ben Robinson’s Propulsive Instability finds its momentum with the idea of movement beyond our control… Any sense of groove is underpinned by an illusion of anxiety, as we hurry to find grounding within an electric rhythmic landscape. A work with no space for hesitation, Propulsive Instability sends us hurtling forward, almost faster than we can comprehend… This sense of freshness and of discovery are pinpricks beneath an almost despairing, animal sense of fixation that drives this work to its very close.” – Ensemble Apex program notes

Commissioned by Ensemble Apex and premiered at Sydney Town Hall on 22 December 2021.