Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

There is a form of 'dance music' in the classical tradition whose purpose does not require any dancing. And I often wonder what it means, therefore, to listen to dance music while sitting still. Of course, there's an inner dance that lifts and moves the spirit and I have always been attracted to music of any age or genre that does that.

Drawing on a diverse heritage of dance music (notably Afro-American, English, Balkan and Latin), these 5 movements present contrasting instrumental combinations, and are of varied length (3, 1, 5, 2 & 8 minutes) delineating an interleaved Fibonacci series.

The work was commissioned by Andrew Johnston to celebrate the 80^th birthday of his mother, Stephanie Lillian Johnston. Herself a pianist, the musical connections trace back through her father, Ray Dean (violinist, saxophonist & band leader), her mother Isabelle Dean (pianist & cellist) and sister Carol Dean (clarinetist). Dance Music for Concert Halls is consequently scored to reflect this family music history.

Work Details

Year: 2012

Instrumentation: Clarinet, violin, cello, piano.

Duration: 21 min.

Difficulty: Advanced

Contents note: 1. pairs / doubles -- 2. interlude -- 3. serenade -- 4. variations -- 5. synthesis.

Written for: Nemanja Radulovic, Ensemble Liaison

Commission note: Commissioned by Andrew Johnston for Stephanie Lillian Johnston’s 80th birthday

First performance: by Ensemble Liaison, Nemanja Radulovic at Balkan Wizardry (Elisabeth Murdoch Hall) on 20 Sep 2012