Sur Les Pointes: Score

Sur les Pointes is one of a series of pieces Barry wrote in the early 1980s, independent of tone colour, playable on any instrument with the appropriate compass. Performances have been given by chamber ensembles, choir and orchestra, keyboard instruments, and an orchestra of wind and solo strings. Sur les pointes is a term used in ballet describing the raising of the body on the tips of the toes. One of the inspirations for it was a pianola Barry encountered which shook violently when playing. Sur les Pointes was written for the pianist Herbert Henck and first performed by him at the London Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1981.