Score
You must sleep, but I must dance : for viola and percussion / by Andrew Ford.
Library shelf no. Q 785.5812/FOR 1 [Available for loan]
Work Overview
The title of this piece comes, via Cormac McCarthy, from the 19th-century German poet Theodor Storm. In fact, in his poem 'Hyacinths', Storm wrote, 'Ich möchte schlafen, aber du mußt tanzen', which is the other way round: 'I would sleep, but you must dance'. But it was McCarthy's inversion of it in Blood Meridian that popped into my head one morning in mid 2010 as I was pushing my baby daughter's pram through the streets in an attempt to get her to sleep. (Now that she is a toddler, it is Storm's original line that seems the more apt.)
The piece is in four connected movements, which might be thought of as 'sleep' - 'dance' - 'sleep' - 'dance', though there is no real program behind the music.
Work Details
Year: 2010
Instrumentation: Viola, percussion.
Duration: 18 min.
Difficulty: Advanced
Dedication note: to Elsie
Commission note: Commissioned by the University of Sydney to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music
First performance: by Roger Benedict, Daryl Pratt at You must sleep, but I must dance (Verbrugghen Hall) on 17 Sep 2012
Videos
You must sleep, but I must dance (interview with Andrew Ford, and performance excerpts)Andrew Ford talks about his duo for viola and percussion, 'You Must Sleep, But I Must Dance'. Performance by Roger Benedict (viola) and Daryl Pratt (percussion). |
Performances of this work
4 May 2013: at Hausmusik: Roger Benedict and Daryl Pratt ('Sassafras'). Featuring Roger Benedict, Daryl Pratt.
17 Sep 2012: at You must sleep, but I must dance (Verbrugghen Hall). Featuring Roger Benedict, Daryl Pratt.
User reviews
Be the first to share your thoughts, opinions and insights about this work.
To post a comment please login.