AN EVENING OF NEW MUSIC Wednesday 18 May Reflections
INGE DEKKER
Alexandra Angus piano Reflections is a work which portrays different reflections in the water. Water reflections can be diverse, varying in clarity and in colours, and this piece will take the listener on a journey through the many contrasting reflections. A quiet stream with small ripples blur the effect of the reflections but a still river with no ripples show clarity of the reflection. The movement of ripples varying from small and quick to wide and slow is also displayed. These ideas are portrayed through the contrasting use of tempo, rhythms and texture.
Music for Spring
IMOGEN FERDINANDO
Alexandra Angus piano Chloe McLean violin Will Brand cello ‘Music for Spring’ is a contemporary minimalist piece written for piano trio that explores Reichian rhythms and sweet simple melodies. It is a playful and innocent piece inspired around the idea of the first day of spring; where nature is awakening from a long sleep and there is an air of childlike wonder and naivety.
String Quartet No.2
OLIVER KING
Eden Annesley violin Julian Lachmund violin Edmund Mantelli viola Ben Crosby cello String Quartet No. 2 is an atypical String Quartet composed in two short movements. The two movements, entitled “Fast” and “Slow” respectively, display a contrast not only tempo-wise but in the consideration of timbre, dynamics, and atmosphere. The piece is heavily fragmented in relation to instrumental motifs and interplay, and because of this makes use of the more contemporary cutaway score composing technique. There are no time-signatures and very little beaming rules, although defined rhythms are occasionally present. The first movement is fast and upbeat, quickly changing between aggressive and fast gestures, sprawling outwards towards a harsh final arrival point. There is no sense of harmonic “tension” and “release” present. Instead, the movement makes use of twelve-tone aggregates, atonal motivic manipulation and free-tonality. The second movement is quiet, extremely slow, and ominous. It contains almost dark ambient sensibilities. Timbral expressions are passed between instruments slowly and carefully, and harsh irregular droning harmonies create an extreme sense of unresolved tension. This piece makes use of the twelve-tone serial technique almost entirely throughout, creating twisted yet beautiful harmonic and melodic progressions.
Terrain
MADDY RYAN-KERR
Madi Crosby violin Performed by solo violin, ‘Terrain’ is a piece that mirrors the experience of exploring unknown landforms. Through the use of various virtuosic techniques possible on the violin, unfamiliar trails, unexpected contours and unpredictable paths are uncovered as a new landscape is explored.
‘Mode Six’ for Solo Piano
LUKA ISON
Andreas Van der Walt piano Mode Six is an Impressionist composition named after one of Messiaen’s Modes of Limited Transposition. This particular mode utilises a ‘whole-whole-half-half-whole-whole-half-half’ interval, which can be described as a C whole-tone scale with an added F natural and B natural. The symmetry inherent to this mode gives it an unusual tonality, where no note really can be perceived as the tonic. This piece is my attempt to demonstrate the harmonic possibilities of this mode. Not only can the whole tone scale be utilised, but with the added chromatic increments, intervals such as the perfect fourth and fifth can be used, giving the ability to use major and minor chords. Despite its limitations, this mode allows for a wide range of tonal moods and colours which fit perfectly with the piece’s Impressionist style.
String Quartet No.1 – Views from Far Away
WILLIAM PIPE
Madi Crosby violin Maddy Ryan-Kerr violin Tbc viola Andrew Udal cello “Views from Far Away” is my first piece to premiere in the conservatorium. This three-movement string quartet illustrates the excitement, worries and wonders of a person in a new and changing world. It also comes to represent my own transition into the world of the conservatorium, moving from far away to begin my own musical path. While the piece does not have any direct musical inspirations, I composed it with the style of late Romanticism in mind.
茗靈 The Spirits of Teas For Chamber Ensemble I. 菊花茶 Chrysanthemum - 無知的化身 The Ignorance II. 普洱 Pu'er - 混沌的化身 The Chaotic III. 日本抹茶 Japanese Matcha - 平靜的化身 The Calm IV. 烏龍 Oo-long - 賢明的化身 The Wise V. 小種 Sou-chong - 高貴的化身 The Nobility VI. 壽湄 Shou-mei - 傲慢的化身 The Elitist (you guys know this tune of mine) Oliver Muller Michal Rosiak Tom Cunningham Hinata Nishimura Milly Yip Phuong Do Quinn Ramsay Julia Hill Luke Hammer Ai Hasegawa
conductor flute/piccolo clarinet clarinet bassoon piano/keyboard percussion violin violin cello
BOBBY C.H. HUEN