Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

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

It is listed in our catalogue because an event featuring a performance of this work was included in our calendar of Australian music. Details of this performance are listed below.

Work Overview

This work, in three movements, was developed from sketches dating back to 2011. The quartet takes its subtitle 'Stillness' from the central, slow movement which is based upon two traditional Japanese poetic forms - the Haiku of 17 syllables and the Tanka of 31. Long after composition was completed, I discovered that the Tanka section lasted 17 bars and that the Haiku section took 31 bars - a neat and fascinating interchange, which occurred quite independently of the composer.

Not all is peace and calm, however - there are periods of activity and agitation in the first and third movements and several cross-references between them. The material of Haiku returns to conclude the work, now enclosed within the wide intervals between the 1^st violin and the cello, that were first heard in the opening movement.

Work Details

Year: 2013

Duration: 12 min.

Difficulty: Advanced — Very demanding ensemble playing

Dedication note: This work, 'Stillness', is dedicated to Elaine ("Elaine gewidmet").

Commission note: This quartet was written at the request of Dieter Kauffmann, old friend and colleague, organiser of the concert at Alte Schmiede, Vienna.

First performance: by Koehne Quartet at Saitensprung (Alte Schmiede (Vienna)) on 30 Nov 2013