Work
Mad Cow-Farmer Disease
for chamber nonet
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About
When Silencio Ensemble asked me to write this piece, it was suggested that I write something inspired by or relevant to Canterbury – one possibility being a piece inspired by the landscape. In a funny kind of way, Mad Cow-Farmer Disease is inspired by the landscape – going to a Canterbury river and seeing the signs that say “Do Not Swim” or another where cows are loose in the riverbed and cow shit is all over the place. It is inspired by dry riverbeds surrounded by farms with pumps constantly irrigating the land – the premise being that any ounce of water that makes it to the sea is wasted. These same farmers, self-titled “environmentalists,” use hypothetical science to justify their wanton destruction of the natural environment.
Commissioned note
Commissioned by Silencio Ensemble, Christchurch for the Canterbury Composers 2008 series
Dedication note
Dedicated to those who sacrifice long-term sustainability and degrade public resources for personal gain
Performance history
03 Oct 2008: Silencio at The Great Hall
24 Oct 2008: picnic at limbo ledge
03 Nov 2008: Silencio at The Jazz School