the weight we carry
the weight we carry was commissioned by Mark Wakely as the fourth in a cycle dedicated to his late partner Steven Alward. The title is taken from the Allen Ginsberg poem Song, which was chosen by Mark as inspiration for the piece. Mark and Steven were partners for 30 years, and three weeks before their wedding, around the time of the Royal Commission into Institutional responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Steven committed suicide. Unbeknownst to Mark, Steven had suffered severe abuse at the hands of several clergy at a school in Newcastle. Only later did he piece the story together. My music attempts to allow the listener to experience the pain, love, grief and hopelessness of Mark's challenging journey. The piece was premiered on 26 August, 2023, at the Utzon Room of the Sydney Opera House by Ensemble Offspring
Funding
Private Funding
History
ERA Category
- Original Creative Work - Musical Composition
Funding type
- Private funds
Eligible major research output?
- Yes
Research Statement
the weight we carry was commissioned by Mark Wakely as the fourth in a cycle dedicated to his late partner Steven Alward. The title is taken from the Allen Ginsberg poem Song, which was chosen by Mark as inspiration for the piece. Mark and Steven were partners for 30 years, and three weeks before their wedding, around the time of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Steven committed suicide. Unbeknownst to Mark, Steven had suffered severe abuse at the hands of several clergy at a school in Newcastle. Only later did he piece the story together. My music attempts to allow the listener to experience the pain, love, grief, and hopelessness of Mark's challenging journey. The complication for writing for a Pierrot ensemble (flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano) and percussion is the conspicuous lack of bass instruments. Other than the left hand of the piano and the cello (which only goes down to C3), the general sound of the ensemble is top-heavy, which in this case resulted in the lack of depth required for the emotional content. I resolved this by modifying the instrumentation. Bass clarinet was used in place of clarinet; the low end of the marimba and the lowest strings of the cello were prioritised; and the lowest portion of the piano provided a solid base for the sound world. To complement these low sonorities, I used piccolo and high passages on violin to achieve the range of emotion required to take the listener on the journey through grief, anger, and peace. The piece was commissioned by Mark Wakely. It was premiered on 26 August, 2023, at the Utzon Room of the Sydney Opera House by Ensemble Offspring in two sold out performances. A video of the premiere is linked. As well as being a significant contribution to the repertoire for Pierrot ensemble, the work is an important addition to the repertoire of Ensemble Offspring. It has been nominated for an APRA AMCOS Art Music Award in the category of small ensemble work of the year.Copyright notes
© 2023 Paul DeanPerformance size
- Group
Number of work performers
6Authors of work performed
Paul DeanWas the work disseminated?
- Yes
Form of dissemination
- Public performance