Work
Great Wall
for vocalising pianist
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About
Written during a month-long residency in November 2005 at the Visby International Centre for Composers, in Visby on the Swedish Baltic island of Gotland, this piece was inspired by the surroundings there: the history related to its importance in the Hanseatic League and prior to that the long Viking period; and in particular the old town with its beautifully preserved encircling medieval town wall.
The piece consists of seven descriptive historical episodes, and includes two poems to be narrated by the pianist in episodes 2 and 7: ‘Clouds’ and ‘Centuries’. The vocalisations are mainly sung, hummed and whistled sounds, along with the breaths of the third section indicating the onerous task of building the wall.
Dedication note
Dedicated to Gao Ping
Contents note
- Prelude (Quarry)
- Threat
- Build!
- The Lookout at Dawn
- Townsfolk
- The Church at Bro
- Centuries
Text note
Poems by the composer
Performance history
14 Feb 2007: Performed by Gao Ping (piano and voice) during the Asia Pacific Festival at St Andrew's on The Terrace, Wellington