A Brief History arranged for Violin and Chamber Orchestra
composition
posted on 2023-03-24, 09:35 authored by Paul Dean, Jack Liebeck, Natsuko YoshimotoNatsuko Yoshimoto, Elizabeth LaytonElizabeth Layton, Corey Cerovsek, Ann Carew, Benjamin Roskams, SIMON OSWELL, Trish Dean, Elina Faskhi, Phoebe RussellPhoebe Russell, Alison MitchellAlison Mitchell, Emmanuel Cassimatis, Lloyd Van't Hoff, Peter LuffPeter Luff, David Mitchell, Daniel de BorahDaniel de Borah, ALICE GILESALICE GILES, Jacob EnokaA new arrangement for Violin and Chamber Orchestra by Paul Dean of his 2019 concerto "A Brief History". The new work received its world premiere at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in July 2022, in collaboration with international violin soloist Jack Liebeck and conducted by the composer.
History
ERA Category
- Performance of Creative Work - Music
Eligible major research output?
- Yes
Research Statement
Research Background This research involved the rehearsal and World Premiere performance of Australian composer Paul Dean’s 2019 Violin Concerto “A Brief History” in a new arrangement for 17-piece Chamber Orchestra and Violin Soloist, with the composer as conductor. Research Contribution A Brief History was originally conceived as a through-composed concertante tone poem for solo violin and full symphony orchestra, inspired by the life and work of Professor Stephen Hawking. In rescoring the work for significantly leaner forces, the composer reimagines and examines anew the relationship between soloist and orchestra within a more diaphanous soundscape, whilst at the same time magnifying the individual significance of each instrumental line within the ensemble. The resulting musical textures emphasise a more graphic mode of expression throughout, highlighting the harmonic complexity of Dean’s unique compositional language with greater transparency and clarity. Dialogistic episodes enjoy a more tautly expressed interaction between players within the more spatially compact ensemble, whilst the smaller orchestral forces still allow for fuller cataclysmic tuttis to maintain dynamic gravitas. With Paul Dean conducting the rehearsals and performance, the ensemble benefitted from first-hand knowledge and insights of the composer’s creative motivations in the workshopping and presentation of the new composition. This arrangement of A Brief History contributes a valuable and important new work to the sparse post-classical repertoire of concertante works for violin and chamber orchestra. Research Significance The chamber arrangement of A Brief History was premiered by internationally regarded British violin soloist Jack Liebeck alongside an ensemble of leading Australian instrumentalists conducted by Paul Dean at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville on 30 July 2022, where it received an enthusiastic reception. The performance was recorded and broadcast nationally by ABC Classic and disseminated internationally via digital radio.Date of recording
30 July 2022Was the work disseminated?
- Yes
Form of dissemination
- Public broadcast
Scope of dissemination
- International