Quartet
un moment de clarté
Bb bass clarinet, piano, violin, viola.
2024: 8 mins. 30 secs. approx.
un moment de clarté began as a between commissions work some ten years ago but was pushed aside when …like a maelstrom… (double concerto for piano, trumpet, and small orchestra) was commissioned. After several further interruptions, work resumed during the lockdown years and the piece was eventually completed in 2024.
“I had a moment of clarity, saw the feeling in the heart of things, walked out to the garden crying.”
from Transcription of Organ Music, by Allen Ginsberg
Something Will Be
percussion, harp, piano, viola.
[1st movement of On the Verge of Becoming or standalone work]
2020: 7 mins. 30 secs. approx.
Tortus
oboe, vibraphone, guitar, viola.
2011-2018: 26 mins. approx.
Various works can be performed individually, or as part of the larger work.
(i) …in Coils: oboe, viola. 2011: 4’30” approx.
(ii) Twist: guitar, viola. 2018: 2’15” approx.
(iii) Curve: vibraphone, guitar, viola.2018: 1’00” approx.
(iv) Espiral: oboe, vibraphone.2012: 7’45” approx.
(v) Turn: vibraphone, viola. 2018: 4’15” approx.
(vi) Tortility: oboe, vibraphone, guitar, viola. 2018: 6’15” approx.
apparition
marimba, violin, viola, guitar.
[1st movement of see(m)ing or standalone work]
2018: 2 mins. 15 secs. approx.
mirage
flute, Bb clarinet, trombone, vibraphone.
[4th movement of see(m)ing or standalone work]
2018: 1 mins. 15 secs. approx.
figment
Bb clarinet, trombone, vibes, piano.
[2nd movement of see(m)ing or standalone work]
2018: 4 mins.
Tortility
oboe, vibraphone, guitar, viola.
[6th movement of Tortus]
2018: 6 mins. 15 secs. approx.
Puck (transcription)
flute, violin, viola, ‘cello.
2014: 3 mins. 30 secs.
*Premiere: 14/9/2014 – Johanna Selleck + members of Silo String Quartet – Melbourne.
Puck was originally written for flute and vibraphone, and transcribed in 2014 for quartet. Although both versions retain many obvious similarities, they each incorporate distinct treatments of some of the material, and this later version is just a little longer coming in at about 3½ minutes.
Puck (transcription) was premiered at the Melbourne Composers’ League concert Spring Rejuvenation, Trinity Uniting Church, Black St. Brighton on 14/09/2014, featuring Johanna Selleck (flute), & members of Silo String Quartet.
Video Complete:
Proxima
string quartet.
2001 rev. 2011: 15 mins. approx.
*Premiere: 21/2/2015 – Silo String Quartet – Melbourne.
proxima: Latin: from proximus = nearest, next, adjoining, close.
Proxima was premiered by the Silo String Quartet, at the Church of All Nations, Carlton on 21/02/2015, as part of the Arcko Symphonic Ensemble composer portrait concert “…Like a Maelstrom”.
Score Sample (PDF)
InQuietude
percussion quartet (assorted instruments):
2011: 9 mins. approx.
*Premiere: 9/11/2013 – Peter Neville, Timothy Phillips, Steve Falk, Dan Richardson – Melbourne.
InQuietude was premiered as part of the Melbourne Composers’ League concert Four Colours: Gold, presented at Trinity Uniting Church, Black St. Brighton in November 2013, featuring percussionists Peter Neville, Dan Richardson, Timothy Phillips and Steve Falk, under the direction of Johanna Selleck.
The Eternal Surge
4 percussionists (glockenspiel, xylophone, vibraphone, marimba)
2000-2010: 30 mins. approx.
“How little do we know that which we are!
How less what we may be!
The eternal surge of time and tide rolls on,
and bears afar our bubbles:
as the old burst, new emerge,
Lash’d from the foam of ages;
while the graves of empires heave
but like some passing waves.”
from Don Juan (Canto XV), by Lord Byron.“Let’s go down to where it’s clean
To see what time it might have been
The tides have carried off the beach
As you said
The sun is out of reach”
from As You Said, by Jack Bruce & Pete Brown.
All works can be performed individually, or as part of the larger work.
(i) Ebb: glockenspiel, xylophone, vibraphone, marimba. 2007: 2 mins. 45 secs. approx.
(ii) PNEUma: vibraphone, marimba. 2004 rev. 2008: 5 mins. approx.
(iii) …as the waves…: solo vibraphone. 2007: 5 mins. 30 secs. approx.
(iv) …tempus fugit…: glockenspiel, xylophone. 2010: 3 mins. approx.
(v) Pro Tempore: 5-octave marimba. 2002 rev. 2004: 7 mins. 30 secs. approx.
(vi) Clash: xylophone, vibraphone. 2006: 3 mins. approx.
(vii) Cogs: glockenspiel, xylophone, vibraphone, marimba. 2000: 3 mins. 15 secs. approx.
Ebb
4 percussionists (glockenspiel, xylophone, vibraphone, marimba)
[1st movement of The Eternal Surge or standalone work]
2007: 2 mins. 45 secs.
*Premiere: 18/9/2010 – SPEAK Percussion – Melbourne.
Ebb can be performed either as a standalone work, or as the first of seven in the cycle The Eternal Surge.
“Most men ebb and flow in wretchedness between the fear of death and the hardship of life; they are unwilling to live, and yet they do not know how to die.”
Seneca (Roman philosopher, 1st century AD)
Ebb was premiered by SPEAK Percussion on 18-9-2010 at the Melbourne Recital Centre.
DisTanz
percussion quartet (assorted instruments):
2002: 9 mins. 20 secs.
*Premiere: 23/2/2003 – SPEAK Percussion – Melbourne.
German: distanz = distance / tanz = dance.
dis = a prefix from the Latin variously implying separation / negation / deprivation / thoroughness.
Although DisTanz is typically quite precisely constructed it will, in some regards at least, be somewhat loosely realised. It is scored for an assortment of so-called un-pitched percussion that is perhaps more closely allied to an industrial sound world than any other.
It is predominantly a mixture of metals and woods [ranging from wood pieces to steel bowls and saw blades] that will of necessity vary with what is available and/or can be begged, borrowed, or bought. And although these instruments are [mostly] called for in fours, there is quite deliberately no master plan to dictate that, for example, Steel Bowl 1 is pitched between Bottles 1 & 2, and the result may differ widely from one performance to the next.
The ideal set-up calls for the performers to surround the audience. This is also flexible given conducting considerations and the physical limitations of any given venue, and will likewise influence any individual performance.
DisTanz was commissioned by SPEAK Percussion, and premiered by them on 23/2/2003 at the Richmond Town Hall, Melbourne.
Cogs
4 percussionists (glockenspiel, xylophone, vibraphone, marimba)
[7th movement of The Eternal Surge or standalone work]
2000: 3 mins. 15 secs.
*Premiere: 1/12/2000 – SPEAK Percussion – Melbourne.
Cogs can be performed either as a standalone work, or as the seventh of seven in the cycle The Eternal Surge. It was premiered by Speak Percussion at the Bennett’s Lane Jazz Lab in Melbourne on 1/12/2000.
“We measure time according to the movement of countless suns;
and they measure time by little machines in their little pockets.”
from Sand and Foam, by Kahlil Gibran.“Just a little bit.
Just a little bit more time.
Time left to live out my life.”
from The Musical Box, by Genesis. (Banks, Collins, Gabriel, Hackett, Rutherford)
Altered States
mandolin, guitar, harpsichord, percussion.
1988 rev. 1998: 8 mins.
*Premiere: 28/8/1988 – ELISION cond. Anthony Briggs – Melbourne.
“…Where do I stand in the pageantry,
whose is my voice?…”
from A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers, by Peter Hammill.
Altered States was commissioned by the ELISION Ensemble and premiered by them in Melbourne in August 1988, under the direction of Christopher Lyndon-Gee.