Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

This choral symphony was written at the invitation of Mark Shapiro, conductor and Artistic Director of Cantori New York. Toward the end of the last millennium, Mark selected a work of mine, Upon the Dark Water, from a general call for scores. And I'm glad he did! That in turn lead to the commission of The Foundling in 1997 which Cantori New York premiered the following May in NY. Many years passed, but Mark and I stayed in touch from time to time. And when the idea arose to write a major work of an hour's length, it was an exciting proposition. Planning for the work started while I was in residence at the Visby International Centre for Composers (Sweden) in March 2020. Ross Baglin (living in London) agreed to write text and we worked through that extensively. I had to leave Sweden abruptly when the COVID 19 pandemic swept the globe. I returned home to Melbourne and straight into 14-day quarantine. Over the coming months I wrote this new work and the first draft was completed under curfew during the second wave. Further substantial revisions were made in September 2021 during Melbourne's 6^th lockdown - all the way through to early 2022 in collaboration with Mark Shapiro's dedicated support and advice. This choral symphony was born and refined from lockdown in contemplation of our modern world.

Work Details

Year: 2022

Instrumentation: SATB choir, strings, percussion.

Duration: 68 min.

Difficulty: Advanced

Contents note: I. The Tunnel -- II. Bones Laid Headlong -- III. Timed in Light -- IV. The Calendar -- V. Missing Pieces -- VI. The Escalation.

Dedication note: Dedicated to Mark Shapiro

Commission note: Commissioned by Cantori New York.

First performance: by Cantori New York — 14 May 22. Church of the Holy Apostles, New York, NY USA