Work
Beyond the Call
for mixed ensemble
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About
A short celebratory piece for John Elmsly and Leonie Holmes on the occasion of their 60th and 50th birthdays respectively
This piece is based on some of the stylistic qualities of John Elmsly’s and Leonie Holmes’ compositions.
Up to about the “golden section” (just over 3/5 of the piece), the pitch material is based on John’s name and uses some of his favourite intervals. The rest of the piece uses pitches from Leonie’s name and some of her favourite gestures as in the sudden fast rhythmic patterns.
The title is doubly significant. It refers not only to the piece itself with its celebratory ‘fanfares’ or ‘calls’ and their colourful resonances which lead the listener into another soundworld but also to the outstanding personal qualities of these two composers. Like most university staff, John and Leonie work industriously beyond the call of duty.
After listening to the 2012 CD of the Karlheinz Company, I realised that in my coloured resonances I had subconsciously used a similar technique found in John Elmsly’s striking work “Ritual Auras”. Such is the nature of serendipity.
Performance history
01 Jun 2012: Performed by Uwe Grodd (flute), Donald Nicholls (clarinet), Hanny Lee (violin), Lisa Chung (cello) and Dean Sky-Lucas (piano) at the School of Music Theatre, University of Auckland.