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Work

Ghost gnat parasite : for string trio

by Tim Hansen (2011)

Score Sample

View a sample of the score of this work

Audio Sample

Performance by Patti Kilroy, Nick Revel, Rose Bellini from the CD Selected works by AMC represented artists

Selected works by AMC represented artists

Non-Commercial

This item is not commercially available from the Australian Music Centre. We regret that we cannot offer it for sale.

CD

Selected works by AMC represented artists : vol. 15

Library shelf no. CD 2271 [Available for loan]

Ghost gnat parasite

$43.64

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Score

Ghost gnat parasite : for string trio / Tim Hansen.

Library shelf no. Q 785.713/HAN 1 [Available for loan]

Work Overview

Ghost Gnat Parasite was composed as a remedy to some darker stuff I'd been composing at the time. I wanted to write a piece that was fun to play and fun to listen to, plus I only had two weeks from first dot on the page to final product in the hands of the performers, so I didn't have time to luxuriate in over-intellectualising things.

This piece started with the name and grew from there, (a not unwelcome trend I've noticed creeping into my compositions). Actually, it started off being called "Parasite", then an hour later I thought that "Gnat" was a better name, and then out of nowhere came "Ghost", and finally I thought that all three were pretty interesting things to call a piece, and so I decided to name the piece all three things, and ordered the words as such because I felt it rolled off the tongue more pleasantly that way.

Intially I started with the concept of having one instrument being the "Ghost", one being the "Gnat", and one (surprise surprise) being the "Parasite". So the piece begins with the cello as the "Gnat", droning away relentlessly underneath everything else, followed by the addition of the parasitic violin melody, which makes no real sense without the harmonic support of the incessant cello. Finally, the viola groans and moans its way into the midst of it all, a ghost in the middle of the texture.

It was a great start... but deadlines and the encroaching panic of writer's block meant that I had to abandon the conceit by the middle of the second section and instead just go with my gut, which is why the third section ("tarantella") has a much more homogenous texture than the previous two. But you know what? I don't think it matters.

Work Details

Year: 2011

Instrumentation: Violin, viola, cello.

Duration: 7 min.

Difficulty: Advanced

First performance: by Patti Kilroy, Nick Revel, Rose Bellini — 25 Sep 11. "End of Summer" concert series presented by the W4 Music Collective. Exapno, Brooklyn, NY.

The composer states the following influences on this work:

Comic pieces, tarantella, dramatic pieces.

Performances of this work

13 Apr 12: Culture Palace, 4 rue Moliere, Ivry-sur-Seine, Paris. Featuring Masha Lankovsky, Sarah Niblack, Liam Morrissey.

25 Sep 11: "End of Summer" concert series presented by the W4 Music Collective. Exapno, Brooklyn, NY.. Featuring Patti Kilroy, Nick Revel, Rose Bellini.

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