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- Michael Nyman
Melody Waves (2005)
- Chester Music Ltd (World)
Commissioned by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the Barbican Centre, The Sage Gateshead and Singapore British Council.
For Chinese orchestra
Programme Note
Melody Waves is so named because, quite straightforwardly and indulgently, it presents wave after wave of melodies – sometimes the same melody, sometimes variants of that melody, sometimes new melodies, sometimes long, sometimes fragmentary, initially harmony-free, but later harmonised, sometimes overlaid with other melodies, sometimes uncombined. This sequence ‘of choice’ is set against the genuine musical wave provided by the percussion music of ‘no choice’ which presents a musical tide which rolls relentlessly and implacably, in total disregard to what is going on around it. The metal percussion instruments start with continuous repeated quavers and gradually and imperceptibly slow down in repetition systems that are out of phase with each other (and which control our perception of the measured time of the melodies). Only at the end of the piece does the melodic material appear to reflect the slowed down percussion motion and to acknowledge that, formally, conceptually and finally, emotionally, Melody Waves was created in the wake of the Indian Ocean earthquake of 26 December 2004.
Commissioned and premiered by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra on 18th March 2005 at the SCO Concert Hall and co-commissioned by the Barbican, The Sage Gateshead and the British Council.
Commissioned and premiered by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra on 18th March 2005 at the SCO Concert Hall and co-commissioned by the Barbican, The Sage Gateshead and the British Council.
Scores
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