Book chapter, ‘The interrogation of instrumental technology in Liza Lim’s Invisibility’ (2024) in Contemporary Musical Virtuosities (edited by Louise Devenish and Cat Hope).

This chapter examines Liza Lim’s Invisibility for solo cello from a practice-led perspective. Invisibility’s technical practice and musical language are shaped around Lim’s interrogation and modification of the cello’s setup. Through a significant scordatura and a bow preparation, Lim denatures the instrumental interface, bringing about a playing environment marked by instability. Analysing the handling experience of the modified cello, focusing particularly on the function of the prepared ‘guiro-bow’, I examine the new instrumental encounter initiated by Invisibility. After assessing the playing dynamics of the modified cello in practice, I turn to performance and virtuosity concepts for the work, offering insights into unstable instrumental practices more broadly. I argue that virtuosity in Invisibility hinges on the performer’s ability to adapt to the cello’s fluctuations through the adoption of a handling approach that considers the modified cello as an active agent in the work’s creation, rather than a passive tool for the exertion of mastery.