Score
Ithaka : for orchestra / Andrew Batterham.
Library shelf no. Q 784.2/BAT 6 [Available for loan]
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Work Overview
Ithaka is an island, a poem and a destination.
As the fabled Greek homeland of Odysseus, hero of Homer's
"Odyssey", the island kingdom sparkled like a mythical jewel in
the Ionian Sea for centuries. The Ithakans were navigators,
soldiers and artists to rival the best the Mycenaean world had to
offer. The allure of this fabulous past inspired the modern Greek
poet Constantine Cavafy to pen his now-famous work, which reads
as though offering advice to a young traveler about to set
sail.
"As you set out for Ithaka, hope the journey is a long one," the
poem begins. "Full of adventure, full of discovery."
"Ithaka" is my most recent piece of orchestral music, and it is
designed to be both the journey and the destination depicted in
Cavafy's poem. It is a musical melting pot, infusing classical
form with contemporary harmony and techno rhythms: late-Romantic
leitmotivs exist alongside drum grooves, violins play alongside
synthesizers, whatever it takes to reach our final destination.
There are no ancient Mycenaean warriors here, no Poseidon or
one-eyed monsters; just a musical odyssey the listener can take
from one era to another.
Odysseus's journey lasted twenty years, but this journey is over
in less than twenty minutes. And as Constantine Cavafy wrote,
hopefully by the end "you will have become so full of experience,
you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean."
Work Details
Year: 2012
Instrumentation: Piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets in B flat, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contra-bassoon, 4 horns in F, 3 trumpets in C, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, percussion (3 players), harp, synthesizer, strings.
Duration: 19 min.
Difficulty: Advanced
Dedication note: For the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music Orchestra, Fabian Russell, conductor
First performance: by University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Fabian Russell at The University of Melbourne Orchestra (Melbourne Town Hall) on 22 Aug 2012
Performances of this work
11 Jan 20: Melbourne Recital Centre, Elizabeth Murdoch Hall. Featuring Melbourne Youth Orchestra, Warwick Stengards.
22 Aug 2012: at The University of Melbourne Orchestra (Melbourne Town Hall). Featuring University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Fabian Russell.
22 Aug 12: Melbourne Town Hall. Featuring University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music Orchestra, Fabian Russell.
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