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Work

Dancing on Clouds : string orchestra

by Paul Stanhope (2018)

Score Sample

View a sample of the score of this work

Audio Sample

Performance by ACO Collective from the CD Collective Wisdom

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Collective Wisdom

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Work Overview

Dancing on Clouds was commissioned by the Hush Foundation for its Volume 18 CD, performed by the ACO Collective. The piece followed a residency at the Westmead Children's Hospital School. In this environment I was impressed by the resilience of the young patients and how many used their imaginations to cope with stressful situations; in this context, music was important to all. They suggested an energetic and optimistic musical response as being the most useful to them.

The image in the title of the piece suggests a flight of fancy into the heavens, escaping our mortal burdens to a place where anything might be possible, even dancing on clouds. The music begins with gentle pulses and melodic contours before launching into a series of more overtly rhythmic episodes. After a short soloistic section where the music comes to a brief stand-still, playful pizzicati hint at a tip-toe dance, building eventually to a larger, energetic musical climax and a brief coda which re-introduces the gentle pulses of the opening. The music ends in a series of cloud-like puffs suggested by soft, high string harmonics.

Work Details

Year: 2018

Instrumentation: String orchestra (no less than 5.4.3.2.1).

Duration: 5 min.

Difficulty: Advanced

Commission note: Commissioned by HUSH Music Foundation.. Commissioned for a recording and performances by ACO Collective

First performance: by ACO Collective at Hush 2018 featuring ACO Collective (City Recital Hall) on 16 Sep 2018

The composer notes the following styles, genres, influences, etc assocaited with this work:
Music for health; therapeutic music for hospitals.

Performances of this work

21 May 2022: at Earth Connections (Wollongong Town Hall). Featuring Steel City Strings.

29 Jul 2021: at Landscapes (Queensland Performing Arts Centre QPAC). Featuring Camerata - Queensland's Chamber Orchestra.

28 Jul 2021: at Landscapes, feat. Eric Avery (Empire Theatre (Toowoomba)). Featuring Camerata - Queensland's Chamber Orchestra.

6 Feb 2021: at Mambo! Dancing across the centuries (Sidney Myer Music Bowl). Featuring Benjamin Bayl, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

29 Oct 2019: at ACO Collective: Serenades for Strings (Armidale Town Hall). Featuring Helena Rathbone, ACO Collective.

27 Oct 2019: at ACO Collective: Serenades for Strings (Bellingen Memorial Hall). Featuring ACO Collective, Helena Rathbone.

25 Oct 2019: at ACO Collective: Serenades for Strings (Lismore City Hall). Featuring Helena Rathbone, ACO Collective.

23 Oct 2019: at ACO Collective: Serenades for Strings (Moncrieff Entertainment Centre). Featuring Helena Rathbone, ACO Collective.

22 Oct 2019: at ACO Collective: Serenades for Strings (Pilbeam Theatre). Featuring Helena Rathbone, ACO Collective.

19 Oct 2019: at ACO Collective: Serenades for Strings (Cairns Performing Arts Centre (CPAC)). Featuring ACO Collective, Helena Rathbone.

17 Sep 2018: at Hush 2018 featuring ACO Collective (Melbourne Recital Centre, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall). Featuring ACO Collective.

16 Sep 2018: at Hush 2018 featuring ACO Collective (City Recital Hall). Featuring ACO Collective.

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