Performed and Dedicated to Cellist Nicholas McManus

Commissioned by the Maitland Regional Art Gallery 2018.
Photo by V. Pham 2018

Red Earth, White Clay (Live Recording)

Metamorphosis Excerpts (2018)

Temple song for sinfionietta orchestra and electronics
Composed by Victoria Pham

Commissioned by St John's College Cambridge, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Women at St John's 

This recording is taken from the live premiere of the work on November 12th, 2022. Conducted by Stephanie Childress with musicians from the college of St John's College, the University of Cambridge

Temple Song (for sinfonietta orchestra and electronics) Live Premiere Recording

Inspired by Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein,' On a Dreary Night of November explores two opposing experiences of one moment in time. Movement I: Convulsive & Agitated, depicts Frankenstein's realisation of his creations, his horror, rage and eventual descent into deranged, fever-ridden dreams (or nightmares). The second Movement: Confused & Indistinct, uncovers
the creature's awakening, its opaque discovery of sensory expression, innocent uncovery of its surrounds, and desolate expression of abandonment and isolation.

Here, cellist Daniel Pini premieres the work as part of FABLE ARTS main-stage series, SOLOS. For full music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvGv864TVRg&t=592s

This filmed performance is the world premiere of Pham's Sonata No. 1 for cello. This work was commissioned by Jane Hazelwood. 

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Film Production: Victoria Pham
Cello Performance: Daniel Pini
Original Composition: Victoria Pham
Editing: Victoria Pham, Daniel Pini
Sound Recording: Daniel Pini
Sound Engineer: Victoria Pham 
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You can purchase the score for Sonata for Cello No. 1 at: https://www.australianmusiccentre.com...

Sonata No.1 For Cello 'On A Dreary Night Of November' (WORLD PREMIERE)

Sonorous Root, Silken Soil is a sonic journey, following Victoria Pham’s story by the same name – inviting you to listen with the natural world.

This piece offers a meditative guide to contemplate the subtle sounds of the Earth, challenging our preconceptions of how to listen. Formed into five vignettes, the piece guides you through Dawn’s chorus, the earthy scent of petrichor, and into the depths of subterranean worlds.

Story and sound originally published in Soft Stir 03, Stories of Collision. Find more information about Soft Stir and Issue 03 at: https://softstir.co/home
Cover artwork by Studio MIMU

Sonorous Root, Silken Soil

Loge♭4 is a four movement solo piano piece influenced by Gyorgy Ligeti’s Musica Ricercarta and John Corigliano’s Fantasia on an Ostinato (for piano). By utilising extreme pitch limitation – Movement I: One, only using E-flat; Movement Two: Seconds, using E-flat and D; Movement Three: Thirds, E-flat and G; Movement Four: Fourths, E-flat, D, G and F-sharp – the limits of the acoustic instrument’s register and dynamic range and the performer’s technical capabilities are explored and tested.

Logeb4  (Movement III)

Logeb4  (Movement IV)

Logeb4  (Movement II)

For a short film; Scored for piano, harp and synthesizer

Mirrored (2015)

Performed June 18th, 2017 @ Brett Whiteley Studio
Commissioned by the Art Gallery of NSW, Chamber Music Series
Performers: Emma Lefroy (Flute), Emma Hunt (Bb Clarinet, Zola Baldwin (Bassoon ), Stephanie Cooper (Oboe) and Evie McEwan (French Horn). 

Program Note:
I have always admired the paintings of the 17th century, particularly that of Velásquez. Although it seems quite presumptuous to be composing a work that pays homage to the magnitude of his repertoire, I am, instead, referencing an occurrence to one of his most well-known paintings, Les Meninas. In 1734, a fire ravaged the Alcázar castle where Les Meninas hung. The painting, renowned for its enigmatic composition and complex audience-figure interaction, was saved. My quirky, arguably minimalist in style work, is a reaction to this short, almost anecdotal tale of a Velázquez in a room of fire.

Velasquez In A Room Of Fire

Premiered 26th of October, Vebrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music

The Sydney Conservatorium of Music Wind Symphony, Conducted by Dr John Lynch. Saxophone solo: Alice V Morgan

Inspired by futurist writer and musician, Russolo's writings on the 'Art of Noise' (1914), A Meeting of Cars and Aeroplanes pays homage to Russolo's theory on noise music and the organised chaos and overwhelming noise of inner-city living in Sydney. Although it is quite a fast-paced and aggressive piece, small pockets of quiet and possibly even comic moments reference the moments and experiences of isolation amongst the wild and turbulent cityscapes. You may even hear the distant sound of a busking saxophonist amongst the abrupt interjections of honking cars, passing traffic and overhead planes. 

Dedicated to Dr John Lynch and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Wind Symphony

A Meeting of Cars and Aeroplanes

Inspired by Horace Walpole’s Gothic canon The Castle of Otranto, Dismemberment explores the notion of fragmentation. Although microtonal inflections are scattered throughout the piece, one tone (a C#) is a present at every point within the work providing a sense of tonal gravity. Dismemberment plays on extreme contrasts between the quiet to wildly chaotic, hypnotic to ritualistic. Perhaps you’ll hear the eerie whispers of living portraiture and fleeting visions of a dismembered giant…

Dismemberment (the many visions of manfred)

Live Recording of the premiere of 'Cave Speak' (2019)

Performers: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, on 25th January 2020

Composed as part of the 21st Century Cybec Composers Program 2019/20.

Composer's Note:
Can we hear our past? It is after all, an impossible venture but reimagining a once-occupied space from prehistory opens possibilities for sound worlds beyond the resonance. Based of my solo archaeological fieldwork in Moià, Catalan in 2018, this work is founded on transcriptions of field recordings taken in the karstic caves of Coves del Toll. Reimagining a space and its past inhabitants, from the distant clattering of bones, wood and the movement of flames and underground water to museum records of ancient fauna such as the prehistoric bears and lions, perhaps the whispers and voices in the dark can speak.

Cave Speak (for orchestra)

Sound painter & Fantasy gardener

Victoria Pham is an Australian sound installation artist and writer. She is based between Paris and Sydney (Gadigal Country).

She has produced music for theatre, radio, podcasting, film, concert halls, contemporary art, sound installations, fashion shows and more...

She can be contacted through her website.

VP

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