Work
swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim; (a rememberance) : for orchestra
by Chris Williams (2025)
$POA
This item may be available to purchase from the Australian Music Centre.
Please contact our Sales Department to confirm pricing and availability.
Work Overview
In February 2022, the Australian composer Nigel Butterley (1935-2022) passed away, and this small remembrance piece was written with him in mind. Nigel was a teacher, a mentor, and a friend, and his passing an enormous loss. The piece, originally for string quartet, was orchestrated in 2025, the year in which Nigel would have turned 90.
The line swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim; comes from one of Nigel's favourite poems, 'Pied Beauty' by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Although Nigel was particularly known for his vocal music and affinity with text, he felt that Hopkins wasn't suitable for setting to music, in part because of its intricate linguistic texture and own internal music. So rather than setting the words to music, I've tried to set music to the words - to find something swift, slow, sweet, sour, adazzle, and dim. The poem praises all things "counter, original, spare, strange", and I hope that the piece does the same, forging its own austere, strange, and beautiful 'internal music' for these words.
Work Details
Year: 2025
Instrumentation: Flute, oboe, clarinet in B flat, 4 horns in F, trumpet in C, trombone, tuba, timpani, strings.
Duration: 5 min.
User reviews
Be the first to share your thoughts, opinions and insights about this work.
To post a comment please login.