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It is listed in our catalogue because an event featuring a performance of this work was included in our calendar of Australian music. Details of this performance are listed below.
Work Overview
Land's End
Small artworks on paper draw the viewer in. Wind-swept ocean
surfaces, frozen in time, with no horizon, no perspective. Works
of detail and obsession, each created over a full year with a
simple graphite pencil.
Composer Lisa Illean found inspiration in these small yet epic
seascapes of Latvian-American artist Vija Celmins. 'In such work,
surfaces act as forms through which subtle change can be
perceived and felt.' In response, Illean's piece, Land's
End, 'evolves gradually, like a change in temperature or
hue.' Gentle transience is everywhere: harmonies shift glacially,
notes barely emerge, notes slide slowly, speeds imperceptibly
change.
'For some time,' says Illean, 'I have been interested in sounds
comprised of hushed repetitive fragments. These recall the
murmurings - of human voices or natural elements - that form a
continuous, ever-varying undertint to more foreground sounds.'
The music of Land's End is hushed, still. High, fragile strings
glisten; brass mumble, muted; percussion barely touch their
instruments. This tranquility opens a space for audiences so that
'the experience of the piece is to be found as much within the
listener as the sounds that I have organised.' Illean challenges
her players with a 'discreet virtuosity of of finely attuned
listening, tuning and balance.' This is a virtuosity that we,
leaning quietly forward in the audience, can share.
Timothy Munro © 2016
Work Details
Year: 2015
Instrumentation: Alto flute (doubling piccolo), oboe, clarinet in Bb (doubling bass clarinet), clarinet in Bb (tuned a ¼ tone lower), alto saxophone (doubling soprano saxophone – soprano tuned a ¼ tone lower), bassoon (doubling contrabassoon), 2 horns, trumpet in Bb, trombone, tuba, percussion (2 players), harp, piano, strings.
Duration: 11 min.
Difficulty: Advanced
Commission note: Commissioned by Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
First performance: by Sydney Symphony Orchestra, David Robertson — 13 Mar 16. “Crossing The Threshold”, Carriageworks, Redfern, Sydney
Analysis
Resonate article: Lisa Illean and Cantor by Anni Heino
Subjects
- Inspired by: Visual arts works
Performances of this work
26 Mar 23: Paddington Town Hall, Sydney, NSW. Featuring Sydney Youth Orchestra, Toby Thatcher.
9 Nov 2018: at Celebrating Brett Dean (Melbourne Recital Centre, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall). Featuring ANAM Orchestra of the Academy, Brett Dean.
1 Apr 16: Maida Vale Studios, London. Featuring BBC Symphony Orchestra, Brett Dean.
13 Mar 16: “Crossing The Threshold”, Carriageworks, Redfern, Sydney. Featuring Sydney Symphony Orchestra, David Robertson.
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