David Chesworth Ensemble: Tekopia
'Tekopia' is a work taken from Vanishing Tekopia, a concert of all new work by David Chesworth Ensemble presented by the Melbourne Recital Centre in September 2009. The title alludes to an actual island in the south Pacific that is in danger of being swamped by the rising ocean, however, according to Chesworth, the title might also refer to the many pockets of indigenous and sub-urban culture that are continually being absorbed by the more dominant cultures.
'The composition of Vanishing Tekopia has undergone a similar process', the composer writes. 'The music has appropriated and absorbed fragments of music derived from many sources. These fragments have been twisted and moulded to serve my own musical process of decomposition/recomposition.'
'My music makes use of pulses and layered polyrhythmic phrases from which varied melodic motives and rhythmic ideas emerge. These ideas started out as rather academic studies and gradually evolved to become the very energetic and catchy series of pieces you will hear today.
'The vocalists sing a series of written notations of phonetics with various repetitions and variations and set to music. I want to use voice as instrument rather than to convey sentiments or thoughts in words in the way a lyricist or librettist might. The words themselves have no meaning. This is reminiscent of the Ursonate developed by Schwitters between 1922-1932.
'This music would also have not been possible without the dedication of the ensemble musicians who have spent time coming to terms with the often tricky and complex performance requirements that lurk beneath the simplicity of the music.'
Performance details
David Chesworth (electronics), Andrea Keeble (violin), Michelle John (cello), Jeremy Alsop (bass), John McAll (piano), Simon Myers (trombone), Peter Neville (percussion), Eugene Ughetti (percussion), Robert Goodge (guitars), Joanne Kuluveovski (vocals) and Melissa Webb (vocals, taisho koto, khaen), Michael Hewews (sound mix).
Video by Anne Wilson, sound for video Jim Atkins.
See also: event details in the AMC Calendar.
Further information
David Chesworth AMC profile
David Chesworth - homepage.
More music from the concert and other performances by the David Chesworth Ensemble on Youtube