The Pool and the Star

Instrumentation

1. Chamber Orchestra

2. Full Orchestra

Year

2012-13

Duration

9'40"

Commission

Commissioned by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as part of the 2013 Cybec Australian Composers' Program

Score and parts

The score is available for purchase or hire through the Australian Music Centre here.

Parts can be obtained directly from the composer.

Program Note

The Pool and the Star is inspired by a poem of the same name by the late Australian poet, Judith Wright. The composer writes, “I have often found Wright’s work a stimulus for creative expression, and on this occasion, it was the vivid imagery and evocative language in The Pool and the Star that invited my musical response.” The work loosely captures the narrative of the poem in which the pool, in love, each night awaits patiently for the rising of a star to bring to life the time and waters from which the pool gathers itself together. Venturing through and between two worlds, the music depicts earth and water on one hand, and on the other, sky and space. Accordingly, the piece is through-composed commencing with a portrayal of calm and tranquillity and progressing through a series of changes of varying intensity, returning in the closing bars to a mood akin to that of the opening.

Performance History

4 Jun 2017: at Australian Discovery Orchestra: Earth, Water, Sky (Live streaming event (online)). Featuring Australian Discovery Orchestra.

9 Apr 2014: at Frescoes of Dionysius (Melbourne Recital Centre, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall). Featuring Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Olli Mustonen.

25 Jan 2014: at MSO: 2013 Cybec Composers Program (Iwaki Auditorium). Featuring Members of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Audio/Video Sample