Homage is dedicated to my colleagues in Ensemble Q. Written for clarinet, violin, and cello, it is designed to be a 13-minute pastiche of movements dedicated to various composers, heroes, performers, ideas, and memories. Many of the movements resulted from little ditties that I wrote for various friends as a daily ritual during the COVID-19 pandemic, and indeed, some of the memories explored in the work are of that period. The movements are:
Homage to the dining room waltz
Homage to Lynn Harrell
Homage to Stravinsky
Homage to a five-minute funeral
Homage to toddler fun
Homage to Tim Brooke Taylor
Homage to Bartok
Homage was programmed by Ensemble Q for the group's 2023 Musica Viva Regional NSW tour, during which it received its premiere, with the composer on clarinet, Natsuko Yoshimoto on violin, and Trish Dean on cello.
History
ERA Category
Original Creative Work - Musical Composition
Eligible major research output?
Yes
Research Statement
Homage is dedicated to my colleagues in Ensemble Q. Written for clarinet, violin, and cello, it is designed to be a 13-minute pastiche of movements dedicated to various composers, heroes, performers, ideas, and memories. Many of the movements resulted from little ditties that I wrote for various friends as a daily ritual during the COVID-19 pandemic, and indeed, some of the memories explored in the work are of that period. The movements are:
1. Homage to the dining room waltz
2. Homage to Lynn Harrell
3. Homage to Stravinsky
4. Homage to a five-minute funeral
5. Homage to toddler fun
6. Homage to Tim Brooke Taylor
7. Homage to Bartok
Repertoire for this combination of instruments—clarinet, violin, and cello—is rare despite it being three-quarters of Oliver Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, one of the most famous chamber works of the 20th century. Other than Concerto a Tre by Ingolf Dahl, there are no original compositions for the combination regularly performed. As such, Homage aims to address this gap and provide further repertoire for ensembles wishing to programme Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. The compositional process involved finding a balance between a powerful wind instrument and solo string instruments. Doing so had flow-on effects for the voicing of melody, harmony, and rhythm.
Homage was programmed by Ensemble Q for the group's 2023 Musica Viva Regional NSW tour, during which it received its premiere, with the composer on clarinet, Natsuko Yoshimoto on violin, and Trish Dean on cello. It was subsequently performed by the same musicians on 24 August, 2023, at Gunnedah Conservatorium of Music and 25 August, 2023, at Orange Conservatorium of Music. This work will be published through the Australian Music Centre and available from mid-2024.