1 May 2017

Chris CREE BROWN: Inner Bellow

From Resound, 2:20 pm on 1 May 2017

"Chris Cree Brown’s 'Inner Bellow' is one of those rare jewels – a composition that communicates something very special to the audience while also providing a rich reward for the performer. I feel extremely fortunate to have been involved from the early stages of its creation and I believe it is an extremely important addition to the clarinet repertoire" ~ Gretchen La Roche

Gretchen La Roche (clarinet) and pre-recorded tape

The work:

Gretchen La Roche

Gretchen La Roche Photo: Supplied

There are two contrasting thematic ideas and sections in an ABAB structure: the first sinuous and virtuosic; the second reflective and expressive. Almost all of the electronic sounds are manipulated recordings of my clarinet playing, with the remainder taken from Chris’s musical sculpture 'Aeolian Harp 2002'. The electronics play an important textural and rhythmic role, as Chris has tightly interwoven the pre-recorded sounds and the live clarinet’s material, creating an interesting dialogue between the two parts.

In the A section, the clarinet is played as normal, but with the bell detached. For the B section, the instrument is taken apart and reassembled at 60% of its usual length, using only the mouthpiece; the lower joint; and the bell. The use of these different configurations is less a theatrical device than an exploration of the timbres and colours of an altered clarinet. The shorter configuration is particularly effective in evoking a raw emotional quality, which is put to perfect use in the lyrical sections of the piece. (Programme note by Gretchen La Roche.)

The composer:

Chris Cree Brown (b.1953) is an Associate Professor at the University of Canterbury School of Music in Christchurch, New Zealand. His main interests include instrumental composition, electroacoustic and computer music, and inter-media art. He has twice been awarded the Mozart Fellowship at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand; and has twice been appointed Composer-in-Schools.

Recent compositions include 'Forgotten Memories' for viola and orchestra, commissioned by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; and 'Remote Presence' for piano, commissioned by Péter Nagy. In April 2009 he completed an extensive radiophonic work called 'Pilgrimage to Gallipoli', using field recordings from two trips to First World War commemorations at Anzac Cove in Turkey, along with interviews and historic material.

In November 1999 he travelled to Antarctica as part of the “Artists to Antarctica” programme, which resulted in two works: 'Icescape' for orchestra and the electroacoustic composition 'Under Erebus'.

He has a strong interest in musical sculptures and his Aeolian harps were exhibited in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens as part of the 2002 SCAPE Christchurch Biennial. Past exhibitions include 'The Dinner', installed in Christchurch’s Physics Room in collaboration with Fiona Gunn.

Cree Brown has four times been a finalist in the SOUNZ Contemporary Award (the premier New Zealand prize for music composition) with 'Memories Apart' for chamber ensemble (2002), 'Icescape' (2003) and 'Remote Presence' (2008). In 2010 he won the award with 'Inner Bellow' for clarinet and tape.

Works by Chris Cree Brown have  been performed in many countries including Australia, the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Portugal, Hungary and Russia.

'Inner Bellow' was RNZ's entry to the International Rostrum of Composers held in Vienna in 2011.

 

 

Get the RNZ app

for easy access to all your favourite programmes