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Work

No mortal air (Full fathom five) : for vocal sextet

by Chris Williams (2016)

Work Overview

No mortal air (Full fathom five) sets two of the best-known texts from Shakespeare's The Tempest : 'the isle is full of noises...' and 'Full fathom five'.
Three distinct types of music are used to imagine the world of the words and the drama of the play. The first type is angular, and uncanny, oscillating between two chords and the tonalities of F, A and D flat. It is the music of the island, music of magic, and the music of Caliban's torment. Caliban escapes this into his "dreaming" as the piece broadens and settles into a more stable diatonic, and pan-diatonic musical language. Finally 'Full Fathom Five' is a rhythmic, melodically simple, and energetic setting. It is both a vibrant and a hypnotic 'air'.

Work Details

Year: 2016

Instrumentation: Vocal Sextet (SSATBarB).

Duration: 6 min.

Difficulty: Advanced

Dedication note: Dedicated to Hugh O'Keefe

This ideas for this work were originally sketched in 2010 for The Australian Voices, but were completed and reworked in 2016 for The Song Company

Performances of this work

27 Jun 2016: at A Strange Eventful History (Berry Uniting Church). Featuring The Song Company.

26 Jun 2016: at A Strange Eventful History (Wollongong Art Gallery). Featuring The Song Company.

25 Jun 2016: at A Strange Eventful History (Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest). Featuring The Song Company.

23 Jun 2016: at A Strange Eventful History (Newcastle Conservatorium). Featuring The Song Company.

21 Jun 2016: at A Strange Eventful History (Eugene Goossens Hall). Featuring The Song Company.

19 Jun 2016: at A Strange Eventful History (The Independent Theatre). Featuring The Song Company.

18 Jun 2016: at A Strange Eventful History (Blackheath Uniting Church). Featuring The Song Company.

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