1999

for mixed chamber quintet

By:

• Lyell Cresswell

Duration:

18' 00"

Instrumentation:

E flat clarinet, bass clarinet, bass trombone, cello and double bass

Samples

	Recording (467k)	P: 1:25 - 2:25	© Waiteata Music Press
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Availability

• This work has 2 scores, 1 Media on Demand and 5 recordings

External Media on Demand

Programme Note

The sound is of whirlwind underground
Earthquake, and fire, and mountains cloven;
The shape is awful like the sound,
Clothed in dark purple, star-inwoven.

Thus Panthea, an ocean nymph, describes the appearance of the Phantasm of Jupiter, or the ‘Tremendous Image’, summoned in anguish by Prometheus in Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound.

Prometheus is seen here as a symbol of those who challenge tyranny for the sake of mankind. By stealing fire from Olympus to give to humans, Prometheus incurred the wrath of Jupiter. He was chained to a rock where, each day, an eagle tore out his liver, and each night it grew whole again. He cursed Jupiter and was hounded by the Furies.

Maui stole fire from his grandmother Mahuika to give to humans and changed himself into an eagle to escape the flames.

It is the energy of the curses, the hounding, the wrath of Jupiter, the flight of the eagle, the gift of fire, as well as the compassion of Prometheus and Maui that I have sought to reflect in the music.

Of Whirlwind Underground is in one continuous movement comprising eighteen merging sections incorporating various combinations of instruments and solo breaks. The quintet grows from two musical ideas, one rhythmic, first stated by the double bass at the very beginning; and the other melodic, introduced straight after by the Eb clarinet. These ideas are juxtaposed, combined, protracted, contracted and variously transformed throughout the piece, while other accompanying and punctuating particles develop and take on greater significance as the music progresses.

Text Note:

Based on a Shelley Text from Prometheus Unbound

Commissioned:

Commissioned by 175 East with funding from Creative New Zealand

• 175 East

Difficulty:

Advanced

Influences:

• Myth
• Fire

Funders:

• Creative New Zealand

Performance History

	21 Nov 1999	Performed by Gretchen La Roche (Eb clarinet); Katherine Hebley (cello); Daniel Stabler (double bass); Tim Sutton (bass trombone); Andrew Uren (bass clarinet)
		175 East
	30 Apr 2000	Performed by 175 East: Gretchen La Roche (clar.), Katherine Hebley (cello), Daniel Stabler (d. bass), Tim Sutton (tromb.), Andrew Uren (b. clar.), Hamish McKeich (cond.)
		175 East    Hamish McKeich
	11 Aug 2010	Performed by 175 East as part of a Waikato University Lunchtime Concert in Hamilton
		175 East
	14 May 2011	Performed by 175 East in Auckland
		175 East
	20 May 2011	Performed by 175 East in Wellington
		175 East    Hamish McKeich

Awards

• SOUNZ Contemporary Award (2000)
  

  Of Whirlwind Underground was a finalist in the 2000 SOUNZ Contemporary Award.