Peter McNamara-Composer
  • Home
  • About
  • Discography
  • Catalogue
  • Sideband
  • Contact

Distorted Waters


YouTube Video of the Entire Performance

From the 30th anniversary concert of the Irino foundation, performed by Ensemble Nomad.

Irino Foundation YouTube Promotional Video

The promotional video for the Irino foundation's 30th anniversary concert (2010).
Soundcloud Recording | Buy the Score

Programme Note

The work's title has a double meaning and refers to how various aural tricks are played on the listener as well as the state of water shortage in Australia at the time when the work was written. The listener's aural expectations are frequently distorted by taking advantage of the like timbres between the Alto Flute and Cello such as harmonics, and often avoiding the registers of each instrument that posses distinctive tone colours. This results in the listener not knowing for sure which instrument is playing what. The concept of expecting something that is not actually a reality also relates to Australia's water situation as we can no longer expect to use water in the same way we always have.

Distorted Waters has a sense of timelessness, and is divided into various events or gestures that are allocated a vague length in seconds rather than any rhythm. This also adds to the distorted expectations as the flow of the work is very unpredictable and has very few climaxes. The pitch material used is also very vague, with much of the work focusing on tone colours and various colouristic effects rather than pitch.

Instrumentation: Alto Fl, Vc

Performances of this work:

13 May 18: Mother Earth, Tree of Life Unitarian Universalist Congregation, McHenry, Illinois USA.  Featuring Art Music Project Ensemble (Forrest Ransburg).

11 Nov 13: ISCM World New Music Days, Vienna Konzerthaus, Berio-Saal (Hall), Austria.  Featuring Ensemble Phace.

4 Nov 10: Irino Foundation 30th Anniversary Concert, Tokyo Opera City Recital Hall, Japan.  Featuring Ensemble Nomad.

7 Sep 09: Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.  Featuring the Tokyo Sinfonietta.

18 Sep 08: University of Western Sydney, Nepean campus. Featuring Lamorna Nightingale, Andrew Wilson.

All manuscript images are photographs taken of a variety of original scores written by Peter McNamara.  Text and images may not be reproduced without permission.

​
© Peter McNamara 2013-21
Home
About
Discography
Catalogue
Sideband

Contact