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Display all products featuring this work (3 more) 
Work Overview
Fast Ride in a Suave Machine is a play on a well-known tune. Sometimes, when we re-visit rhymes that we knew as children, it is a curious revelation to understand the true and gruesome nature of the text. Examples of this are Ring-a-Ring-a-Rosie which had its origins in the era of the Black Plague or Rock-a-bye-Baby, where the baby falls 'cradle and all'.
Whilst singing 'Three Blind Mice' to my children one day, the
grisly nature of the text suddenly became apparent. Hence, the
music is fast paced and 'fun' in nature yet it also alludes to
the dark side of the text... I imagine the farmers wife, chasing
mice around her kitchen with a large butchers knife!
Work Details
Year: 2006, this version: 2021
Instrumentation: Piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 obies, 3 clarinets in B flat, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, barintone saxophone, 3 trumpets in B flat, 4 horns in F, 3 trombones, euphonium, tuba, double bass, timpani, percussion (4 players: Cabasa, 3 wood blocks, tambourine, 5 tom toms, suspended cymbal, bass drum, triangle, 5 temple blocks, bells, xylophone, marimba, ratchet).
Duration: 7 min.
Dedication note: Dedicated to my Mum, Val – with love.
Commission note: This work was commissioned by Orchestras Australia as part of a composer attachment in 2005/06.
This version arranged by Nicholas Enrico Williams in 2021.
Performances of this work
26 Jun 22: Central Coast Grammar School Performing Arts Centre, NSW. Featuring Symphony Central Coast.
19 Jun 22: Northcote Town Hall, VIC. Featuring Preston Symphony Orchestra.
7 Apr 22: Melbourne Recital Hall, VIC. Featuring University of Melbourne Wind Symphony.
30 Jul 2015: at Women of the Met (St Stephen's Anglican Church, Richmond). Featuring Melbourne Metropolitan Sinfonietta.
29 Mar 2015: at Tasmanian Youth Orchestra (Princess Theatre, Launceston). Featuring Greg Stephens, Tasmanian Youth Orchestra.
28 Mar 2015: at Tasmanian Youth Orchestra (Burnie Town Hall Theatre). Featuring Greg Stephens, Tasmanian Youth Orchestra.
19 Aug 06: Performed by Pembroke Symphony Orchestra, at Pembroke School, South Australia. Featuring Kevin Cameron.
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