Chamber Concerto
for flute, percussion & large ensemble (2008)
soloists: picc, fl, alto fl./ glock, vibraphone
ensemble: ob, Bb cl, hn, bsn, pno, 2vln,vla, vc, cb
duration: 22’
GRT • 139
audio
ABC Classic: Classic Australia
score available from
Australian Music Centre
program note
This Chamber Concerto draws on diverse popular music influences and is essentially non–programmatic. The first movement is fast and inspired by 1970’s electronica. Marked ‘dark, robotic’ it is driven by contrasts: soloists (piccolo & glock) versus tutti, high versus low, major versus minor, dense versus sparse – but is ultimately consumed by itself in a vortex of polytonal arpeggios. The slower second movement features the alto flute and vibraphone as a duet within a 1980’s soul/pop context and the final movement is fast–paced whirlwind of Bulgarian rhythms and contemporary jazz harmonies (flute & vibraphone). These three movements are separated by two brief interludes in which the flute and percussion soloists do not play. The work was commissioned by Father Arthur Bridge (Ars Musica Australis) for Emma Sholl, Claire Edwardes and the Sydney Omega Ensemble.
review
"Performed here by Shaun Barlow and Daniel Luscombe, the first movement contrasts the solo piccolo and vibraphone, whose lines artistically intertwine, with the rest of the orchestra. The second movement features the alto flute and is strongly reminiscent of the oriental jazz sounds of performers such as Don Burrows. Barlow effortlessly performed the changes between flute, alto flute and piccolo, and, together with Luscombe, performed with virtuosity and vibrancy."
Kimberley Pearson, Resonate, June 2009
article
available on resources page