Audio Sample
Performance by Gondwana Voices, Lyn Williams from the CD Choral music
Non-Commercial
This item not commercially avaialable from the Australian Music Centre. We regret that it cannot offer it for sale.
CD
Choral music : live recordings 1987-2004 / Elliott Gyger.
Library shelf no. CD 1518 [Available for loan]
Score
Fire in the heavens : for children's choir a cappella / by Elliott Gyger.
Library shelf no. 782.7554/GYG 2 [Available for loan]
Work Overview
Fire in the heavens sets a text by the early 20th-century Australian poet Christopher Brennan, describing the oppressive power of the noonday sun in the Australian bush. The language is distinguished by great vividness and energy, qualities I have tried to reflect in my setting, which is comparably extreme in its use of word-painting. The choir is divided into three throughout, but with occasional further divisions, creating at times the effect of three different choirs. The most unusual feature of the piece is its exploration of consonant sounds, both percussive and sustained, as equal partners with the vowels in creating musical and expressive effects. The high level of intensity throughout the work perhaps partly reflects the circumstances of its composition, in an unusually cold and snowy Boston winter — while at the same time Sydney was ringed by bushfires.
Work Details
Year: 2003
Instrumentation: Children's choir (divided into 3 groups).
Duration: 5 min.
Difficulty: Advanced — Advanced/professional.
Commission note: Commissioned by Lyn Williams for performance by Gondwana Voices.
First performance: by Gondwana Voices, Lyn Williams — 25 Jan 04. City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney
Performances of this work
25 Jan 04: City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney. Featuring Gondwana Voices, Lyn Williams.
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