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Work

Falling Embers : for vibraphone and crotales

by Ella Macens (2020)

Score Sample

View a sample of the score of this work

Audio Sample

Performance by Claire Edwardes from the CD Rhythms Of Change

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Work Overview

When I was 11 years old I noticed a huge, peculiar cloud in the sky outside my home. It was NewYears Day, the start of 2002, and the family was milling about the kitchen. Unaware of what I was seeing or what this unusual cloud signalled, I continued with my breakfast in merriment. Twenty minutes later our neighbour rang the doorbell and exclaimed, "The fire is coming!". We ran to the upstairs balcony and looked out to see smoke and flames across the valley. Cheltenham, my home, was on fire.

One of my strongest memories comes from the evening that followed, after the army of fire engines retreated and a feeling of safety was restored. My sister Kate and I awoke around 2am and stood side by side, gazing out at our backyard through big glass doors, watching as embers fell like hot snow from the sky and melted into ash as they hit the damp soil. We thanked the wind and all those who came to help us that day.

Falling Embers was originally composed as a meditation for peace and relief from the fires that raged across the Australian landscape in the summer of 2019-20.Tracing a glowing particle suspended above desolate land where all has been lost and destroyed, the piece explores the idea of the last moments of something - the final glow before life burns out. As the music evolved, Falling Embers came to embody and represent something deeply personal and deeply tender taking place at the time of composing the work: The final moments - the final glow - of a very special relationship.

Work Details

Year: 2020

Instrumentation: Vibraphone, crotales in E flat, G, Bb from top octave.

Duration: 7 min.

Difficulty: Advanced — Medium-advanced

Commission note: Composed for Claire Edwardes under commission by the 2020 Bowral Autumn Music Festival.

First performance: by Claire Edwardes at Claire Edwardes solo (Live streaming event (online only)) on 26 Apr 2020

Videos

Falling Embers
 

Subjects

Performances of this work

28 Oct 2023: at Songbirds | Brisbane Music Festival (FourthWall Arts). Featuring Ensemble Offspring.

31 Aug 2022: at Our Place: A Musical Journey (Abbotsford Convent). Featuring Nathan Gatenby.

1 Jul 2022: at Festival Opening (Salvation Army Church Brisbane City). Featuring Claire Edwardes.

24 Sep 2021: at Ensemble Offspring: Rhythms of Change (Online). Featuring Claire Edwardes.

5 Mar 2021: at Finding a Voice: About Time (Live streaming event (online only)). Featuring Alex Petcu.

7 May 2020: at Claire Edwardes - live stream (Live streaming event (online only)). Featuring Claire Edwardes.

26 Apr 2020: at Claire Edwardes solo (Live streaming event (online only)). Featuring Claire Edwardes.

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