Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

No products are available for this work

The Australian Music Centre's catalogue does not include any recordings or sheet music of this work. This entry is for information purposes only.

Materials for this work may be lodged in our collection in the future. Until then, any enquiries should be made directly to the composer/sound artist or their agent.

Work Overview

String Quartet No. 3 is a four-movement work inspired by three stories from Stradbroke Dreamtime by Oodgeroo Noonuccal. The opening movement emerges from eerie stillness as the Rainbow Serpent awakens. An angular motif grows in intensity as the Serpent travels, before both story and music return to their starting point.

The second movement evokes the landscapes and creatures created by the Serpent, culminating in a rigid chorale from which a theme representing humanity emerges. This theme is developed in the third movement, Biami and Bunyip, before giving way to Bunyip's fiercely energetic dance, interrupted by the appearance of its unfortunate victims.

The final movement, Mirrabooka, returns to a sparse texture, depicting Mirrabooka's transformation into a watchful spirit. A small group of fundamental notes gradually realigns into a widely spaced cross within the score. First heard in its natural form, this idea returns after the ascension only as a distant echo, transformed into ethereal string harmonics.

Work Details

Year: 2019

Instrumentation: 2 violins, viola, cello.

Duration: 18 min.

Difficulty: Advanced — Extended string techniques, rhythmic challenges

Contents note: I. Prologue -- II. The Rainbow Serpent -- III. Biami and Bunyip -- IV. Mirrabooka (The Southern Cross).

Commission note: Commissioned by Black Square String Quartet.

First performance: by Black Square Quartet — 24 Aug 19. Point Lookout Community Hall, Menjerribah