Work
Red earth : sextet for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion
by Colin Bright (1985)
Audio Sample
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Performance by Geoffrey Collins, Catherine McCorkill, John Harding, David Pereira, Daryl Pratt, Ian Munro, David Stanhope from the CD Red earth |
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Score & Part
Red earth : sextet for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion / Colin Bright.
Library shelf no. 785.3416/BRI 1 [Not for loan]
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Work Overview
Red Earth explores psyche of place. That is, where we
live and how it affects the way that we think. Even if you live
on the more densely populated east coast of Australia, you are
nevertheless still aware of the vast distances involved in
travelling towards the centre, the north and west. Red
Earth draws on several aspects of Australian aboriginal
music and some of the distinctive features of the Australian
landscape. This is approached not in an imitative way, but is an
attempt to attain something of the 'essence' of the music and its
relationship to the land - that is - its manifestation of a sense
of 'place'.
In Red Earth:-
There are allusions to the rhythm of didjeridoo playing and the
voice of the songman. For example, the rhythmic interplay between
high and low notes refers to a technique of didjeridoo playing
where the primary harmonic is juxtaposed with the (lower) normal
playing note.
Most of the phrases tend to be repetitive and end on descending
melodic patterns. There are rhythmic drones and chant-like
phrases.
There is an overall sense of stasis and spaciousness, a flatness
and repetitiveness which is characteristic of so much of the
outback landscape.
Although I have been interested in Australian aboriginal music
for many years now, the origins of this were a social and
political awareness that Aborigines had little say in controlling
their own destinies (too many decisions being made by whites),
and that black culture and attitudes had not impinged greatly on
white thinking - even after 200 years. The ignominy of this being
that such a two-way flow between cultures could only have
enriched both cultures and created a closer
understanding of each other.
As a musician it seemed to me that there were aspects of
Aboriginal music that intrinsically reflected something of the
larger environment, and, as a consequence, Australian aboriginal
music has come to have a profound effect on my musical
thinking.
Colin Bright
Work Details
Year: 1985
Instrumentation: Flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion.
Duration: 9 min.
Difficulty: Advanced
Dedication note: Dedicated to Tony Smith
Analysis
Article: Aboriginal Influences in a Hymn for the Republic
by Judy Robinson — © John Fairfax Holdings
Source: Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 12 May 1993, pp.23
Subjects
- Inspired by: Indigenous Australian Culture
Performances of this work
5 May 2013: at Valley Dreaming (Gymnasium of the Scots College Glengarry Campus).
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