Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

This collection of pieces for solo violin comprises of two Homages and three Scenes from life. They are inspired by the young, namely my two sons and my students in general.

All five Inventions are compositionally based upon the interval of a fifth. Additionally, they all employ deliberate playing restrictions. Homage to Bach is to be performed, like much violinistic teaching literature, entirely in the first position. Scene at Ikuta Shrine uses only the two lowest strings and Inner Rhythm the two highest strings. Homage to Turkey Tolson is to be played only on the g string, which is detuned to a lower pitch. Lullaby for Leo utilizes the full compass of the instrument, and commences with the four open strings.

Inventions I, II, IV and V take different forms of singing as an inspiration or model: echoes of Bachian choral singing (in I) and Japanese Shinto monotone chanting (in II), an imaginary primeval wailing song (in IV) and nocturnal bedside humming (in V). Invention III is based not on external singing but rather upon the inner breath itself.

"Found" materials are also incorporated; most importantly, the chorale melody "Es ist genug" (in I) and Brahms' famous lullaby theme (in V). The Scene at Ikuta Shrine was directly inspired by the priest's "parlando" singing style at my son Sean's 100 "days of birth" celebration in Kobe, and the final Lullaby for Leo is a reflection on my own inner murmurings at my younger son's bedside. Inner Rhythm was prompted by my teaching: to find one's own natural rhythm rather than being dependent on any fixed or rigid metronomic speed. Homage to Turkey Tolson pays tribute to the first aboriginal artist I admired as a teenager, and specifically, to the compressing and expanding dotted lines of his "Straightening spears" series of paintings.

Work Details

Year: 2018

Instrumentation: Violin.

Duration: 28 min.

Difficulty: Advanced

Contents note: I. Homage to Bach -- II. Scene at Ikuta Shrine (for Sean) -- III. Inner Rhythm -- IV. Homage to Turkey Tolson -- V. Lullaby for Leo.

First performance: by James Cuddeford — 20 Jan 19. Hong Kong International Violin School Recital Hall