Sha’aph extends the exploration of souffle to the scale of the orchestra, transforming breath into compact blocks of air, friction, gasping, pulse, apnoea and prolonged stasis. Rather than circulating between individual instruments, these materials are projected through the ensemble as collective states of respiration.

Where earlier works often allow respiration and friction to unfold or expand, Sha’aph confronts and compresses them. Dense rhythmic masses and percussive activity collide with sudden suspensions, extreme dynamic contrasts and almost motionless resonance. The orchestra alternately inhales, contracts, erupts and holds its breath, behaving as a single unstable respiratory body.