Commissioned by Christina Leonard with funding from the Australia Council. Performed by Christina Leonard (soprano saxophone), Sophie Cole (violin), Daniel Yeadon (cello) and Bernadette Harvey (piano). Duration of complete work - 10 minutes. 

Image - Schockl mountain landscape, Graz,Styria, Austria taken by Tim Dargaville, May 2018

Crossing The Borderland for Soprano Saxophone, Violin, Cello and Piano (2008) - opening (excerpt)

Intended for the cycle of pieces for viola and piano titled 'Lojong' composed by Tim Dargaville. Performed by Phoebe Green (viola) and Tim Dargaville (piano). Image - Tibetan prayer flags at the Namdroling monastery, Mysore, South India, 2007 taken by Tim Dargaville

Meditation on Lost Things for Viola and Piano (2014)

Commissioned by Continuum Sax. Performed by Continuum Sax 

Selected performances by Continuum Sax (Sydney, Australia 2013), the sonic.art quartett (Berlin, Germany 2014), Nexas Saxophone Quartet (Sydney, Australia 2017), MCM New Music Studio (Melbourne, Australia, 2017)

Kolam is a ritualistic form of decorative threshold art, drawn on the ground using rice flour at the entrance of a private home. It is an ancient practice traditionally passed on from mother to daughter. A kolam itself is a mandala-like drawing composed of a continuous line curving around a matrix of dots. In the state of Tamil Nadu, in South India, kolam-making is widely practised by the women of the house each morning from daybreak. Kolams are thought to bestow prosperity to homes, are seen as a sign of welcome, and also ward off the “evil eye”. Kolam patterns range between geometric and mathematical line drawings to free form artwork and closed shapes. Once drawn, these designs are left to be walked over, for passing insects to eat, and gradually disappear by the end of the day only to be reformed again the next morning.

The image accompanying this work is of Tamil village elder Renuka making a kolam from rice powder. The photo was taken by Tim Dargaville during a 2006 Asialink Artists Residency at Adishakti Theatre Arts Laboratory, Pondicherry, South India

Kolam for Saxophone Quartet (2012)

Performed by Christine Draeger (flute) and Jocelyn Edey Fazzone (piano) from the CD release "Eat Chocolate and Cry"

Eat Chocolate and Cry (Australian Institute of Music)

Invisible Dance for flute and piano (2009)

Commissioned by the Melbourne Theatre Company for the 2007 production of "Enlightenment". Also featured in the 2007 Melbourne International Festival "Musicircus" event as the soundtrack for the performance/installation "That Line Between Night and Day". Performed by Elliott Folvig (electric guitar, loop and FX pedals)

Transcendental Etude for electric guitar(2007) - MTC production of "Enlightenment"(excerpt)

Commissioned by Bernadette Harvey with funding from the Australia Council and the Freshwater festival. Premiered by Bernadette Harvey, Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre, April 2017. Recording of complete work by Bernadette Harvey, June 2017.

International performance by Patrick Sckrilecz (Schallfeld Ensemble), Konzertsaal, Reiterskaserne, Kunst University, Graz, Austria, May 4 2018

Kolam for piano solo is an extended five movement cycle that is intended to be a sonic meditation on the ancient and mysterious practice of kolam. 

Kolam is a ritualistic form of decorative threshold art, drawn on the ground using rice flour at the entrance of a private home. It is an ancient practice traditionally passed on from mother to daughter. A kolam itself is a mandala-like drawing composed of a continuous line curving around a matrix of dots. In the state of Tamil Nadu, in South India, kolam-making is widely practised by the women of the house each morning from daybreak. Kolams are thought to bestow prosperity to homes, are seen as a sign of welcome, and also ward off the “evil eye”. Kolam patterns range between geometric and mathematical line drawings to free form artwork and closed shapes. Once drawn, these designs are left to be walked over, for passing insects to eat, and gradually disappear by the end of the day only to be reformed again the next morning.

Image - Flower kolam. Photo by Tim Dargaville, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, South India, April 2018

Kolam for piano solo (2014)

Composed for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Arcko Symphonic Ensemble. Performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Benjamin Northey (October 2015). Performed by the Arcko Symphonic Ensemble, conducted by Timothy Phillips (March 2016). Live recording Arcko Symphonic Ensemble March 2016.

Duration of complete work - 15 minutes

Kolam is a ritualistic form of decorative threshold art, drawn on the ground using rice flour at the entrance of a private home. It is an ancient practice traditionally passed on from mother to daughter. A kolam itself is a mandala-like drawing composed of a continuous line curving around a matrix of dots. In the state of Tamil Nadu, in South India, kolam-making is widely practised by the women of the house each morning from daybreak. Kolams are thought to bestow prosperity to homes, are seen as a sign of welcome, and also ward off the “evil eye”. Kolam patterns range between geometric and mathematical line drawings to free form artwork and closed shapes. Once drawn, these designs are left to be walked over, for passing insects to eat, and gradually disappear by the end of the day only to be reformed again the next morning.

Kolam for orchestra is intended to be a sonic meditation on this ancient and mysterious practice.

Image - Flower kolam. Photo by Tim Dargaville, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, South India, April 2018

Kolam for Orchestra (2015) - opening (excerpt)

Commissioned by the 2014 Albert H Maggs award. Premiered at the Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre, April 2017 by Marshall McGuire (harp), Bernadette Harvey (piano) and the MCM New Music Studio conducted by Elliott Gyger. Live recording by the ABC.

Duration of complete work - 20 minutes
Instrumentation - Flute/alto flute, oboe/cor anglais, Bb clarinet/bass clarinet, harp, piano, violin, viola, cello

This music is composed for the music theatre project "Walking with Hafiz"

Image by Ruby Hastwell Dargaville

Between Breath and Word for chamber ensemble (2016) - opening (excerpt)

Commissioned by Laila Engle for Syzygy. Premiered by Syzygy, Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre, July 10 2018. Recorded by the ABC October 2017

Duration of complete work - 15 minutes. 
Instrumentation - Flute/Alto flute, Bb clarinet/Bass clarinet, Piano, Violin, Cello

in memory of Doug Dargaville (1928 - 2013)

“before and after follow each other”
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Book I

This is a music of enigmatic recurrences, inspired by the re-reading of a book I have returned to many times. My father’s copy of Lao Tzu’s “Tao Te Ching”, which he gave to me when I was young, has given much nourishment and insight over the years. In particular, essential Taoist ideas of the returning and deepening of experience into wisdom, and also the integration of opposites into a unified whole, have been significant in my own life understandings, and as such are also important in the formation of this music.

“After and Before” is structured into two complementary movements, seemingly contrasting to each other but actually derived from the same material. Both movements have almost exactly the same duration, and each references the other, recalling the archetypal image of the yin yang, where each half contains the seed of its complementary opposite.

After And Before for quintet (2017) - Movement 1 - opening (excerpt)

Composed for Ironwood. Premiered by Ironwood at Recital Hall East, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, June 23 2018. Recorded by Ironwood, Melba Hall University of Melbourne, March 2018.

These 11 short pieces for string quartet mark the beginning of a collection entitled, “The Book of Memory and Forgetting”. My reasons for wanting to make these works are complex. A significant impetus has been to remember the life of my mother, and in particular make sense of her last years in the strange landscape of dementia. Rosemary Dargaville (1934- 2013) was a feisty, articulate, loving mother, also a campaigner for social justice, for whom language was a sophisticated tool for passionate expression of feeling and ideas. For the last decade of her life, Rosemary lived with gradual loss of language and physical mobility, as a result of the onset of Alzheimers disease. Her perceptions of the present and past became increasingly intermingled, her language took strange and often beautiful forms, with sentences disappearing, or disparate thoughts connecting. In her last days, when she had no words left, Rosemary’s need to make contact was expressed through wordless singing, and through interacting with ever-present recorded music. Music was the most important solace for her and music for strings, in particular, was a favourite.

These “Lost Pages” are in remembrance of Rosie. The experience of caring for her in the later part of her life has inspired the notion of creating a music that speaks in unexpected ways – from abrupt changes in direction, to familiar musical objects in unfamiliar circumstances, to gradual disappearances of recognisable traits. Movements I - V are distinct portraits, or snapshots. Movements VI - XI are these same pieces in various states of dissolution and disappearance. And yet always a distinctive, tender presence remains. The music in this collection is intended to be a heartfelt contemplation on the mysterious journey that Rosie shared with us in our family. It is an attempt to express gratitude for, amongst many things, her life affirming spirit, as well as the dignity and resilience she showed in her last years of quiet relinquishment.

Image by Rosemary Dargaville

Lost Pages from the Book of Memory and Forgetting for string quartet (2017) - Movement V

Lost Pages from the Book of Memory and Forgetting for string quartet (2017) - Movement III

Lost Pages from the Book of Memory and Forgetting for string quartet (2017) - Movement I

Tim Dargaville is a composer, pianist, percussionist, and teacher who is a distinctive voice in recent Australian contemporary music. Central to his work is a nurturing of authentic musical expression that encompasses cultural diversity. 

Tim Dargaville's compositions include work for the concert platform, theatre, and dance, and have received international recognition with performances at the Warsaw Autumn Festival (Poland), the 4th East-West Music and Dance Encounter (India), the Wigmore Hall Masters Series (London, UK), and the Rotterdam Bach Festival (the Netherlands). In Australia his music has been broadcast on ABC national radio and television, featured in the Melbourne and Sydney International Festivals, awarded the prestigious Albert Maggs award, the Jean Bogan prize and an Ian Potter Music Commission. Compositions have also been nominated for both Sounds Australian and Green Room Awards for best new work. 

Publishers include Red House Editions, Reed Music, The Keys Press, and La Trobe University Press, and recordings have been released on ABC Classics, Move Records, and The Divine Art (UK) labels.

Tim Dargaville is a represented artist in the collection of the Australian Music Centre, Sydney

Tim Dargaville

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