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Work

Balderdash : for string quartet

by Holly Harrison (2017)

Balderdash

$63.64

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Score

Balderdash : for string quartet / Holly Harrison.

Library shelf no. 785.714/HAR 4 [Available for loan]

Work Overview

Balderdash begins and ends with amplifier feedback: a sound that quickly makes us bring our fingers to our ears! The piece imagines an alternate world in which music is heard between the feedback - a sort of sub/hyper-sonic sound world which takes place in mere seconds.


With this in mind, the string quartet explores musical ideas inspired by electric guitar, including distortion, white noise, whammy bars, power-chords, dive-bombs, wah-wah, phaser effects, slap bass, and of course, speaker feedback. Balderdash makes high use of punk rock rhythms, dissonance, and percussive-based jams, which morph in and out of bluegrass, grunge, prog-rock, metal, and . . . disco.


Given the piece was commissioned for a competition, I felt it might be fun to experiment with a battle-of-the-bands theme within the string quartet itself. Throughout Balderdash, players go rogue (especially the cello!), engage in one-upmanship, jam, duel, challenge, compete, interrupt, surrender, work together in teams, and cooperate as one. The piece is intended to be theatrical and encourages the quartet to perform with abandon.

Work Details

Year: 2017

Instrumentation: 2 violins, viola, cello.

Duration: 13 min.

Difficulty: Advanced

Commission note: Commissioned by Silo Collective for performance by Musica Viva Australia.. Commissioned by Silo Collective for performance by Musica Viva Australia. Commissioned for the 2018 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition

Performances of this work

5 Jul 2018: at Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition - Heats (Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM)). Featuring Callisto Quartet.

5 Jul 2018: at Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition - Heats (Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM)). Featuring Goldmund Quartet.

4 Jul 2018: at Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition - Heats (Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM)). Featuring Thaleia Quartet.

4 Jul 2018: at Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition - Heats (Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM)). Featuring Gildas String Quartet.

4 Jul 2018: at Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition - Heats (Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM)). Featuring Eliot Quartett.

3 Jul 2018: at Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition - Heats (Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM)). Featuring Quatuor Agate.

3 Jul 2018: at Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition - Heats (Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM)). Featuring Idomeneo Quartet.

3 Jul 2018: at Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition - Heats (Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM)). Featuring Baum Quartet.

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