Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

Becoming is based on two forms of Japanese poetry - haiku and renga. The brief, vivid images that are essence of haiku express something deeper than words - the sharing of feelings and perceptions that are universal and transcend the barriers of language and culture. Reinforcing this idea of connection, Becoming uses haiku in three languages (French, English, and Tibetan) by poets from tenth-century Japan through to contemporary Australia. Becoming is structured in the style of renga, which is an 'elongated' form of haiku incorporating linked stanzas composed by different poets.

Work Details

Year: 2007

Instrumentation: Soprano, countertenor, bass, shakuhachi, string quartet.

Duration: 60 min.

Difficulty: Advanced

Commission note: Commissioned by Sen Forster for the the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival in 2006.

The composer envisages that performances of 'Becoming' should respond to time and place by incorporating translations into different languages according to who, when, and where it is performed. This would ideally be accompanied by visual images that reflect the surroundings. Thus, it is intended that the piece undergoes continual metamorphosis – always ‘becoming’ something new in response to the changing environments in which it is performed.