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Work

You must sleep, but I must dance : for viola and percussion

by Andrew Ford (2010)

Work Overview

The title of this piece comes, via Cormac McCarthy, from the 19th-century German poet Theodor Storm. In fact, in his poem 'Hyacinths', Storm wrote, 'Ich möchte schlafen, aber du mußt tanzen', which is the other way round: 'I would sleep, but you must dance'. But it was McCarthy's inversion of it in Blood Meridian that popped into my head one morning in mid 2010 as I was pushing my baby daughter's pram through the streets in an attempt to get her to sleep. (Now that she is a toddler, it is Storm's original line that seems the more apt.)

The piece is in four connected movements, which might be thought of as 'sleep' - 'dance' - 'sleep' - 'dance', though there is no real program behind the music.

Work Details

Year: 2010

Instrumentation: Viola, percussion.

Duration: 18 min.

Difficulty: Advanced

Dedication note: to Elsie

Commission note: Commissioned by the University of Sydney to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music

First performance: by Roger Benedict, Daryl Pratt at You must sleep, but I must dance (Verbrugghen Hall) on 17 Sep 2012

Videos

You must sleep, but I must dance (interview with Andrew Ford, and performance excerpts)

Andrew Ford talks about his duo for viola and percussion, 'You Must Sleep, But I Must Dance'. Performance by Roger Benedict (viola) and Daryl Pratt (percussion).

 

Performances of this work

4 May 2013: at Hausmusik: Roger Benedict and Daryl Pratt ('Sassafras'). Featuring Roger Benedict, Daryl Pratt.

17 Sep 2012: at You must sleep, but I must dance (Verbrugghen Hall). Featuring Roger Benedict, Daryl Pratt.

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