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Work Overview
The musical ideas for this concerto came from three important artistic voices from Australia's history - poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal, visual artist Clarice Beckett, and composer Peggy Glanville-Hicks.
The first movement Oodgeroo is a partial setting of the poem 'The Past', which explores the author's deep-felt connection to culture and the ancient wisdom of the land. The darkly resonant lowest register of the marimba is exploited in the central dreamscape of the movement. In the second movement, the delicately blurred twilight aesthetic of Clarice Beckett's paintings is reflected in the harmonic choices and textural painting of sound. Here the music embraces stillness and the interplay between softness and structure, displaying the gentle humanity present in Clarice's paintings. The final movement is a celebration of the life and music of Peggy Glanville-Hicks- an extravagant, effervescent, and feisty journey through the major modes, motoric and irregular rhythms, and percussive vitality that Peggy's music is remembered for.
These three women each wrote, painted, and spoke their truth through their representative art forms, despite the challenges facing them. In doing so, they dared to declare who they were as artists and lived with a fearless commitment to their art. This concerto celebrates their lives and their art; my prayer is that as an artist, I may grow to be as brave and as daring as they were.
Work Details
Year: 2023
Instrumentation: Solo Marimba (5 8ves), 3 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 clarinets in E flat, 3 clarinets in B flat, bass clarinet, 2 alto saxophones, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, euphonium, tuba, timpani, string bass, piano, 3 percussion (min.).
Duration: 25 min.
Difficulty: Advanced — 3rd movement contains irregular meter
Commission note: This arrangement commissioned by Knox Grammar School, the University of Western Australia Conservatorium of Music, and Dr. Anna Reid.
The composer notes the following styles, genres, influences, etc in association to this work:
Peggy Glanville Hicks, in particular Etruscan Concerto, Sinfonia da Pacifica, and Sonata for Piano and Percussion.
Awards & Prizes
| Year | Award | Placing | Awarded for/to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Art Music Awards: Performance of the Year: Notated Composition | Finalist | Claire Edwardes |
Performances of this work
1 Jun 2025: at Stars and Planets (Verbrugghen Hall). Featuring NSW Doctors Orchestra, Joanna Drimatis, Claire Edwardes.
26 Nov 2023: at Australian Voices Concert (Queenwood Astra Theatre). Featuring Fiona Lucas, Claire Edwardes, Sydney Wind Symphony.
7 Jul 23: Adelaide Town Hall.. Featuring Elena Schwarz, Claire Edwardes, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
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