Fluid Fixations was commissioned by the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in 2021. It is a work for 14 musicians, twice as many players as in Butcher’s previous HCMF compositions - somethingtobesaid (2008) and Isola (2012).

In Fluid Fixations the musicians bring their own, very personal languages into a composition based on what Butcher calls psychological orchestration. A process of imagining how particular musicians might respond to particular directives - here combining precise notation, text, imagery, instructions and pre-recordings. The latter are new pieces that use close-miking to manipulate some of the “hidden” sound possibilities of the saxophone. At HCMF 2021 they were cut to vinyl and manipulated by turntablist dieb13.
The piece naturally moves between small scale, highly individual combinations and the orchestral totality of the collective forces, aiming to create a coherent structure and sense of unity that still encourages improvisation to engage with the mystery of  its own internal logic in the moment.

Post hcmf Butcher has arranged new iterations of the piece for a group made half from members of the origial emsemble and half from players local to the inviting festival.
Vilnius Fixations - Vilnius Jazz Festival 2024
Dublin Fixations - New Music Dublin 2025

Modernism’s back, baby.
“Further thrills came from an hour-long composition Fluid Fixations by John Butcher for an all-star cast of improvisers. It confirmed that free improvisation is at its best when it isn’t that free: each performer limiting their palette, combining their instruments sparingly and subtly.”
Igor Toronyi-Lalic - The Spectator