Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

Given the commission, I conceived of a piece to do with the Polish experience in Australia. The piece starts with quotes of Polish bird songs - sounds of being at home in Poland. An ostinato accompanies the bird songs, and this uses intervals from the bird songs. Most of the work stems from the Song Thrush and the Thrush Nightingale of Poland. This moves to a section called 'Wrenched away', built on the same intervals. It is demanding and suggests journeys forced upon people. Many Polish came to Australia after WWII. They enriched Australia. So the next section is called 'The arrival' which has a sense of anticipation. It also uses the opening ostinato stemming from the Polish bird songs. There are a couple of instances of re-stating earlier sections before a final hymn section with Australian bird song above - the Currawong, effectively the sound of an 'adopted home'. These sounds are new, but the hymn tune stems from the opening ostinato and the Polish bird song. The piece resolves peacefully, but with some feel of displacement indicated by the odd way the Australian bird song sits against the hymn tune.

Work Details

Year: 2018

Instrumentation: Piano.

Duration: 8 min.

Difficulty: Advanced — For graduate students of piano or professionals.

Dedication note: Dedicated to Edward Neeman

Commission note: A commission from Friends of Chopin Australia (Canberra), for the Centenary of Polish Independence.