Falling By Degrees
for violin and piano
(2009)
duration: 18’
GRT • 143
audio sample
II:
Snow
score available from
Australian Music
Centre
program note
I:
Meteor
II: Snow
III: Parachute
IV: Apple
V: Anchor
VI: Stockmarket
VII: Night
These seven miniatures are concerned with the theory of
gravity and the resultant phenomenon of falling. This is
reflected in the music in a number of ways. The first five
movements are concerned with objects that fall to Earth
from a great distance, starting with Meteor, then Snow, Parachute and (closer to the ground)
Apple, moving to that which falls below sea
level (Anchor). The final two movements then take a
journey outside of literal gravity into the realm of more
metaphorical things that are said to ‘fall’
(Stockmarket & Night). The first movement is 4 minutes long
and the ensuing movements are progressively shorter
culminating in a brief movement of just 45 seconds. The
metronome markings fall from an opening tempo of 144 to
just 52 in the end and the harmonic centres (while not
exactly tonal), gradually fall from sharp keys to flat
keys. Inside these ‘measurable’ aspects of falling lie a
somewhat less–fathomable response to our existence within
an environment largely governed by gravity.
Commissioned by Stephen McIntyre for the 2009 Port Fairy
Spring Festival of Music, this piece is dedicated to Duo
Sol (Miki Tsunoda and Caroline Almonte) who gave the
premiere performance.