Pentimento, palimpsest and entropy: some hauntological underpinnings of Pentimenti for piano duo

This article explores my composition for piano duo Pentimenti through a hauntological lens, paying close attention to the textural, gestural and formal dimensions of the piece. Drawing upon Derrida’s definition of hauntology in the sense of ‘reanimating’ futures that belong to the past and the concept of broken time, this discussion will show how the musical substance of Pentimenti engages with imagery associated with layering and decay, as well as palimpsests and pentimento techniques. The concept of gestural archetype is posited as a means to illuminate a type of internal or self-haunting in which distinctive gestures recur, are layered, blended, smeared, eroded and imitated.