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Score
The Mallee sings : SATB choir, piano, clarinet in A / music: Becky Llewellyn ; words: Flexmore Hudson.
Library shelf no. 782.5542/LLE 1 [Available for loan]
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Work Overview
As a composer, I am interested in outer landscapes as vehicles to explore inner states. In particular I enjoy in setting words to music. For this choral commission from the Adelaide Chorus, I chose texts by South Australian poet, Flexmore Hudson who had taught in the Mallee during the 1930s and 40s and used this experience to reflect is beauty, freshness and strength. He was a member of the 'Jindyworoback' school of poets who sought to portray Aboriginal people and Australian nature in new ways. The four poems, used with permission of Collins Angus & Robertson Publishers, move through many moods of the mallee - from hazy sunset to bleak windswept plains, to joyous fresh spring and to the courage of those who live in such harshness. The clarinet becomes a series of mallee birdsongs, adding to the uniqueness of place.
Mallee in October has been excerpted from this suite and sung in the US and Canada as an example of exuberant Australian choral music.
Work Details
Year: 1993
Instrumentation: SATB choir, piano, clarinet in A (or soprano sax in Bb).
Duration: 18 min.
Difficulty: Medium — Professional clarinetist required
Contents note: Mallee Farm at Dusk -- Mallee Scene -- Mallee in October -- Mallee Courage.
Dedication note: Dedicated to Flexmore Hudson. Dedicated to the work of South Australian poet Flexmore Hudson who recognised the spirit of the Mallee - its people, birds and animals.
Commission note: Commissioned by Russell Larkin.
First performance: by Adelaide Chorus, Greg Roberts, Haig Burnell, Russell Larkin — 25 Jul 93. Studio 520 ABC Collinswood, South Australia
Subjects
- Has as subject/About: Music about place
- Has as subject/About: Landscape and Nature
Performances of this work
5 May 96: Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, St Paul, Minnesota, USA. Featuring George Chu, Tania McLain, Alanna Seppala, Hamline University A Capella Choir.
25 Jul 93: Studio 520 ABC Collinswood, South Australia. Featuring Russell Larkin, Greg Roberts, Haig Burnell, Adelaide Chorus.
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