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Work

Somniloquy : cello solo

by Luke Altmann (2010)

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The Australian Music Centre's catalogue does not include any recordings or sheet music of this work. This entry is for information purposes only.

Materials for this work may be lodged in our collection in the future. Until then, any enquiries should be made directly to the composer/sound artist or their agent.

Work Overview

I awoke deep in the night at my piano, playing strange music I had never heard before, and passed out again in a terrible fright. The next morning I awoke again in bed. There was no way of telling whether or not this was a dream. I had no real recollection of the music, despite the vividness of the experience.

In Somniloquy for solo cello I aim to create an atmosphere of semi-cohesive strangeness. I use breath as a unit of phrase length (a concept already explored locally with such beautiful results in the chamber music of David Kotlowy), while the pitches are determined by the length and flexibility of the cellist's fingers in relation to each other rather than by a logical system of relative intonation. The cellist takes step after step across the fingerboard without conscious tonal intent, like a sleepwalker. The resultant fragmentary melodic contours are familiar enough - especially when spoken with a cello's voice - but their meaning is distorted by a lack of continuity and tempered harmony, and their length is limited by the basic organic function of breath. This sound world may remind a listener of the eerie sensation of eavesdropping on a sleeping partner's unconsciously whispered nocturnal soliloquies.

Work Details

Year: 2010

Instrumentation: Cello.

Duration: 6 min.

Difficulty: Advanced — Extended techniques

First performance: by John Addison — 28 Aug 10. ABC Adelaide Studio 520

Performances of this work

28 Aug 10: ABC Adelaide Studio 520. Featuring John Addison.

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