Winner of the 2017 Matthijs Vermeulen composition prize
Commissioned by Betty Beaver and The Canberra International Music Festival 2015
Original instrumentation performed by Herz Ensemble
Arrangement (2017) performed by Icebreaker Ensemble
Arrangement (2019) performed by Ensemble Offspring
Instrumentation:
violin, viola, cello, saxophone, bass clarinet, organ, piano, electric guitars, percussion, counter tenor, didgeridoo
Duration: 15′
The Dam is based on the rhythms of the sounds made by cicadas, crickets, frogs, birds, flies, spiders and other creatures that inhabit a waterhole in the bush. Far away from human intervention, their evening song becomes a great choir joyously singing out into the vast universe. It is possible from far away to hear where the waterhole is without being able to see it and it is also possible to hear the shape of the landscape around it as many tiny creatures create a sonic pointillistic landscape. I am attracted to the almost but not quite polyrhythmic tapestry of sound they create.
www.herzensemble.com 