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Score
Eleven oblique strategies : for solo cello / Brett Dean.
Library shelf no. 787.4/DEA 1 [Available for loan]
Work Overview
The term "oblique strategies" was coined jointly by British
musician Brian Eno and German-born British visual artist Peter
Schmidt to describe a series of printed cards they developed
throughout the 1970's. The cards had their origins in sets of
uncannily similar working principles that both artists had
established independently, and featured aphorisms intended as a
means of triggering inspiration or providing useful stimulus
during the creative process, particularly when encountering
difficulties of fatigue or time constraint.
As Eno and Schmidt wrote in their introduction to the first
edition in 1975:
They can be used as a pack (a set of possibilities being
continuously reviewed in the mind) or by drawing a single card
from the shuffled pack when a dilemma occurs in a working
situation. In this case, the card is trusted even if its
appropriateness is quite unclear. They are not final, as new
ideas will present themselves, and others will become
self-evident.
I chose eleven of Eno and Schmidt's strategies, ordering them in
a way that revealed to me a logic and potential inter-relatedness
within a hitherto disparate set of single ideas I had assembled
for solo cello, each of them in turn a reflection upon the
commission's initial purpose of creating a test piece for the
2014 Emanuel Feuermann cello competition.
It's my hope then that the resultant composition may provide not
only an interesting test of the competitors' talents but also
offer the interpreter an opportunity to reflect upon the delights
and pitfalls of creativity as he or she comes to terms with the
various musical and technical challenges to be found within these
ten minutes of music for solo cello.
© Brett Dean, 2014
Work Details
Year: 2014
Instrumentation: Cello.
Duration: 10 min.
Difficulty: Advanced
Contents note: 1. Listen to the quiet voice -- 2. A line has two sides -- 3. Don’t stress one thing more than any other -- 4. Look at a small object, look at its centre -- 5. What are the sections sections of? -- 6. Don’t be frightened to show your talents -- 7. Disciplined self–indulgence -- 8. Bridges – build – burn -- 9. Ghost echoes -- 10. Disconnect from desire -- 11. In a very large room, very quietly.
Commission note: Commissioned by the Kronberg Academy for the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann 2014, Germany
First performance: by Min Ji Kim — 18 Nov 14. Philharmonie, Kammermusiksaal, Berlin
Performances of this work
15 Oct 2020: at Inner Worlds (National Portrait Gallery). Featuring Umberto Clerici.
20 Nov 2016: at Sydney Symphony Orchestra: Oblique Strategies (Carriageworks).
18 Nov 14: Philharmonie, Kammermusiksaal, Berlin. Featuring Min Ji Kim.
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