Night Tides

An intimate exploration of time, memory and mythos, Night Tides stirs with nature’s eternal currents. This tender collection of works shimmers with poetic delicacy; water trembles, mythological worlds shimmer in nocturnal hues, and the alluring sonority of the voice weaves its way through the shifting textures of Halcyon’s characteristically chameleonic ensemble. 

From Gordon Kerry’s evocative Three Malouf Songs, which paint a striking vision of Queensland’s Glasshouse Mountains, to Christine McCombe’s plaintive Ebb Tide, Australian composers lie at the heart of this program. Between these luminous, tidal movements flows the world premiere of a new arrangement of songs from Kevin March’s Mythweaver, composed of Sappho’s fragmented and ardent poetry. Lisa Cheney’s No Distant Place: I. The Soul’s Eternity, is a spellbinding instrumental interlude, as clarinet, piano and violin emerge and bloom like pinpricks of light. Elena Kats-Chernin’s Moondust, wordless melodies wax and wane in a nocturnal reverie. Paul Stanhope’s brief song My Love in her Attire features sinuous dovetailing lines for soprano, vibraphone and clarinet, which glimmer with a subtle wittiness.

Three Australian premieres further affirm Halcyon’s unfaltering devotion to new music curation: Moonlight, Summer Moonlight is Estonian Tõnu Korvits’ elegy to a solemn evening, while the frozen moment of a perfect shade of blue is illuminated in Hilary Tann’s …Slate, blue-gray. Quiet Songs is Jeremy Thurlow’s translucent sculpture of Yves Bonnefoy’s murmuring poetry. 

As Halcyon celebrate 26 years of music-making, join artistic director and mezzo-soprano Jenny Duck-Chong for a breathtaking evening, as alongside a cast of Halcyon musicians both old and new, spectres of grief and reminiscence mingle with stunning evocations of nature’s radiance.

WORKS Gordon Kerry - Three Malouf Songs (2015) Christine McCombe - Ebb Tide (2016) Kevin March - Two songs from Mythweaver (2009, 2021 chamber version) - world premiere Lisa Cheney - The Soul’s Eternity from No Distant Place (2015) Elena Kats-Chernin - Moondust (2019) Paul Stanhope - My Love in Her Attire (2013) Hilary Tann - Slate, blue-gray (2012) Jeremy Thurlow - Quiet Songs (2014) Tõnu Kõrvits - Moonlight, Summer Moonlight (2013)

ARTISTS Jenny Duck-Chong mezzo-soprano and artistic director Amy Moore – soprano Jane Bishop – flute Alex McCracken – clarinet Maria Lindsay – violin Heather Lloyd - viola James Larsen – cello Will Hansen - double bass Stephanie McCallum - piano Kaela Phillips – harp Alison Pratt - percussion

Source: https://www.emus.space/archive/2024/10/18/night-tides