Evolving Waves (November 2019)

As it grows increasingly apparent that humanity lacks the wherewithal to unify over the existential threat of climate change, my response has been to write music intended to evoke, in the hearts and minds of those who hear it, a comprehension that it is humanity's obligation to act as caretakers, rather than destroyers, of the life that surrounds us. This album includes three orchestral works from my Music for the Earth series.

GAIA’S LAMENT. In the background, music for violin and orchestra was playing for quite a while, but I didn’t quite muster the courage to embark on writing it down until recently. At the time I began to think seriously about writing a concerto for violin, the United Nations was in session and what, if anything, would come out of the climate change discussions was the hot topic of the day. The young activist Greta Thunberg had sailed to the U.S. on a solar powered sailing vessel and having been invited to speak before the assembled members, gave all of the adults in the room the thrashing they well deserved. With all of this going on, somehow a scene from the 1960 film of H.G. Wells “The Time Machine” kept coming to mind – a brief scene where he travels to the far, far distant future to arrive to find a dying earth, a huge red sun suspended on the horizon, and a desolate landscape nearly devoid of life.

It was with this somber vision that I set about writing music, filled with sorrow at what our species is doing to our only home, with little hope that we have the awareness, rationality or willingness to act as we must.

GAIA’S SONG.  A companion work to Gaia’s Lament, this bucolic music was nearing completion when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its Sixth Assessment Report, Climate Change 2021. While reading the findings of the report was, unsurprisingly, deeply distressing, my vision for the earth which helped inform the writing of the music is the opposite. A vision for humanity that is built on hope rather than the reality of human nature, one where humans come to recognize our responsibilities as caretakers rather than destroyers of the earth and the living creatures with whom we share the planet. This is gentle music, intended to inspire a gentler approach to living.

Whatever anger or despair I feel at the realization that our species will prove, in all likelihood, incapable of taking the necessary actions to stave off environmental catastrophe in the coming decades, I laid those feelings aside when writing this song. Let Gaia sing, not a song of lament, but a song of peace and hope.

SEASON OF RAIN. A symphony in four movements, composed during a mostly rainy season. The music is also a rather somber reflection on the state of the world, as it becomes devastatingly apparent that climate change is a certainty and, at the same time, the rise of populist politics around the world makes it equally certain that humanity will not respond to the alarms.


Gaia's Lament (Andante)

This is the complete version of my settings of Robert Lowell's poetry, for tenor, baritone and 13 players. I have put the score into Sibelius and made a few small changes from the original version, and I hope that the piece might be performed live again in connection with the 50th anniversary of Lowell's death.

WHITE WINTER, BLACK SPRING (revised version)

Symphony No. 10 in G Major - mvmt. 2

Symphony No. 10 in G Major - mvmt. 1

Being's mystery
Becoming - how?
Vision of beauty
Dark interstices
Will - articulation of being - hierarchy
Redemptive spaces
Creation

Image - Claude Monet - Tree in Flower near Vetheuil (1879)

Whole - Ok - But Not All In The Day - part 2

Realized using Notion and Studio One featuring Harmonic Subtones Emotional Strings

25-9 Old French a. Pochon - Gavotte

Fallen Heroes part three

String section and horns with solo cello and solo violin

For your love

Suites for chamber ensemble consisting of string trio, woodwinds, harp, marimba, and percussion

Suite for Chamber Ensemble No. 8

Touching moment today, when checking out the acoustic in Tunnel Grić, the security guard, who was obliged to stop me , tip-toes over and silently signaled to stop recording , so as to not ruin my take, hvala puno gospodine! #undergroundmusic #zagreb #croatia #clarinet

Tunnel Gric Zagreb

Neon

Performed by Flinders Quartet. Concert footage filmed by 5stream; audio recorded, mixed and mastered by Ana Paula Gargantini, APGMproductions. June 22, 2019. Library at the Dock, Melbourne.

Video of performance can be found here - https://vimeo.com/345175559 

If you're interested in seeing the score, please get in touch.


PROGRAM NOTES

The String Quartet Project is the beginning of a journey that will never be completed. I will continue to add new movements to the piece indefinitely. This suite of music will grow and grow, each movement informing the next. The compositional approach of each movement is informed by the context in which it is written, and the ensemble who performs it: with each string quartet leaving their mark on the work as a whole.


I - The Slow Unfolding of the Self

These are the first marks made for the work. I wanted each note to have gravitas, hence the slow, austere mood. It is almost without pulse and utilises frequent dove-tailing. Harmonically, I've been inspired by the work of the American composer Elliott Carter.

II - Foreign Gravity

The second movement oscillates between soloist and the ensemble in a call and response-like fashion. Instructions to play freely, steady and aggressively are given. It consists of hocket-like sections, all-interval tetrachords and an absence of extended techniques.

The String Quartet Project (I) The Slow Unfolding of the Self [2019]

-Waringin-
Huge Banyan trees (Waringin/Bingin) are important landmarks in most Balinese village, often at a central crossroads.  These behemoth trees are allowed to grow untamed and often grow to nearly 50 metres.  They are highly sacred, and it is believed that both auspicious and malevolent spirits spend their time nearby these twisted, sprawling, almost grotesque trees. Like cathedrals in English towns, Banyan trees can be seen from hundreds of metres away; these age-old sentinels loom over the village.  The Balinese word "Bingin" carries a sense of strong and solid foundations, and as such these trees are a symbol of tradition. 

Composed by Oscar Smith
Dedicated to Dewa Alit and Gamelan Salukat
Performed by Gamelan Salukat
Recorded by Antida Studios at Balerung Mandera Peliatan
Mixed by Raka Bintara
Film by Ferdinand Parulian

Thanks to:
-Dewa Alit
-Aya Sukuma
-Dewa Artayasa
-Agung Oka Dalem Mandera
-University of Sydney
-Australian Cultural Fund
-Everyone who donated

Musicians/Pemain:
PEMADE 1: I Wayan Sumerta
PEMADE 2: I Dewa Gede Artayasa
PEMADE 3: I Kadek Putra Agustina
PEMADE 4: I Wayan Galung Marwanaya

KANTILAN 1: I Made Pagarat
KANTILAN 2: Dewa Gede Teja Nata
KANTILAN 3: Gusti Ngurah Trisna Adi Putra
KANTILAN 4: 

CALUNG 1: Gusti Ngurah Oka Wardana
CALUNG 2: Kadek Krisna Ripayana
JEGOG 1: I Wayan Sukadana
JEGOG 2: I Putu Okto Saputra

REONG 1: I Kadek Janurangga
REONG 2: I Putu Astianawan
REONG 3: I Wayan Wahyudika
REONG 4: I Kadek Krisna Arimbawa

SULING: I Wayan Ariadi
SULING: Made Dwi Cahya Diva
SULING: I Kadek Prima Santosa Dwi Putra

CENG-CENG: I Kadek Prima Santosa Dwi Putra
KENTUK: I Putu Raka Suantana
GONG: I Gusti Putu Alit Indrawan Mataram

Waringin

A piece on the subject of finding clarity as the immediate surrounds continue to blur. Composed for the Gildas Quartet and Lucy Humphris - written at Dartington while studying with Sir Harrison Birtwistle.

Duets

Somewhere in the Middle explores the notion of cultures and composers feeling a loss of identity and place in their own music. It leads the listener to question whether feeling a sense of identity and place in a work of music is important and whether imposing labels on music is really necessary. This work seeks to blend traditional and contemporary musical worlds and is influenced the contemporary classical music of Seoul, South Korea.

Performer: Elliot Pascoe
Recorded: 2012
Composed: 2011

Somewhere in the Middle (solo piano)

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Neon

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