Mothers Suite, Sweet Mothers
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Mother's Suite, Sweet Mothers is a composition by Thomas Green for violin and piano. It is in five movements, and each movement represents a chapter in the life of a mother with her child. This music was commissioned by ABC Classic's Fresh Start Fund. Thomas Green filmed the studio recording process, and various audiovisual representations of the composition exist online.
Funding
ABC Classic Fresh Start Fund
History
ERA Category
- Original Creative Work - Musical Composition
Funding type
- Public funds
Eligible major research output?
- Yes
Research Statement
Research Background My recent compositions for acoustic instruments explore shifting the seat of novelty from a single-minded focus on formal elements (e.g., pitch relationships and rhythm) to the music’s circumstances, personnel, and cultural stimuli. This effort aligns with an awareness amongst contemporary academics and composers to emphasise the doing of music. Authors who have written about music or art as action and doing include Christopher Small; Richard Shusterman; Georgina Born, Michael Stepniak; and Peter Sirotinin. There is a tradition amongst Australian composers which emphasises the physicality and experientiality of music. Cat Hope, Lisa Illean, Liza Lim, Anthony Pateras, Kate Neal and Danielle Barry all emphasize experience (sometimes with respect to embodiment) in their compositions. Stylistically-speaking, Mothers Suite, Sweet Mothers is significantly contrasted with much of that music, yet closely shares a concern for music in a context of broader experience. Stylistically, this work has much in common with the works of Robert Davidson, who was one of my composition mentors, and from whom it is likely I received influence about the importance of envisioning music in relationship with people, environment and culture. Research Contribution Mothers Suite, Sweet Mothers, a work that responds to and celebrates motherhood, radically transfers compositional agency and process to be principally motivated and directed by the musical performers’ personal circumstances and stories. This shift has a variety of significant outcomes, particularly: 1) the role of the performer is elevated so that the composition is the result of a thoroughly collaborative process, even when composer/performer roles remain clearly distinct; 2) the audiovisual aspect of the work portrays musicking, featuring the performers for whose stories the music is about, thus exemplifying the relevance of audiovisual media for creators who explore the doing of music; 3) the work functions as an exemplar for a composer in the role of a storyteller, who relates a story across an experiential gap (ie., mothers/non-mothers) via a deep connection and collaboration through musicking. Research Significance Mothers Suite, Sweet Mothers was commissioned by ABC Classic with its Fresh Start Fund, in 2022, and the composition was premiered at the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival in 2022, recorded by ABC Classic in late 2022, and frequently broadcast on ABC Radio since then, including a broadcast in early 2023 following an interview with the composer. ABC Classic’s weekly reach was approximately 866000 in 2021-2022. The composition has been released twice commercially: Once as a single, “Mothers Suite, Sweet Mothers,” and once on a compilation album “Classic Australia,” both released by ABC Classic. The work has also received several performances in Queensland in 2023, and the audiovisual online media has cumulative views numbering over 7000 at the time of writing.Confidential / Culturally sensitive
- No
Copyright notes
© 2022 Thomas Green. All Rights ReservedMedium
Printed musical scoreDuration of performance
Approximately 30 minutesEstimated size of audience
200Was the work disseminated?
- Yes
Form of dissemination
- Public performance
Scope of dissemination
- National
Did the work go on tour?
- No