Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

This piece was originally composed for the Goldner String Quartet in conjunction with the Sydney Conservatorium of Music's inaugural Composing Women Program (2016-17). The premiere performance was presented by the Flinders Quartet and was performed in Melbourne in December 2017 as part of their Composer Development Program.

Resting with Angels was inspired by the music of Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks, with whom I share my cultural herritage. His music is often deeply connected to nature and voices concern regarding the current state of humanity and the wider world, which Vasks depicts through his mournful and meditative melodic and harmonic writing. More specifically, this work was inspired by Vasks' Vientulais Enģelis (Lonely Angel) - a Meditation for Violin and String Orchestra, which ia an expansion of the 5th movement of his fourth string quartet titled Meditation. Vientulais Enģelis had a profound and lasting impact on me upon hearing it for the first time. It opened up a space for me to completely surrender and allow deep healing within.

In Resting with Angels I endeavoured to explore a similar state of mind and being. I wanted to create a space in which the listener is invited to surrender into a deep state of meditation and find emotional healing through the music. Most importantly, I wanted to communicate light conquering darkness.