Ross Edwards: Reflections (1985)
Date
1985
Authors
Composer: Ross Edwards
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Canberra School of Music, Australian National University
Abstract
"Reflections for piano and percussion is the most recent of a series of works which Edwards refers to as his sacred music. Whereas its predecessors, Shadow DZone (1977), The Tower of Remoteness (1978), Kumari (1980) and Etymalong (1984) demonstrate an increasing concern with compositional austerity. Reflections uses a much more expansive palette of sonorities. This is not to suggest that it is out of character with its companion pieces. Indeed the qualities of its gestures and their unique repetitive organisation are unmistakable trademarks of the series. Nonetheless it is surprising that Reflections should follow chronologically from Etymalong which is an extreme example of reducing the musical material of a piece to just a few characteristic motivic gestures. Reflections, by contrast, involves a complex interplay of a considerably greater number of sonorities, especially since the two pieces are of comparable length. New material is introduced consistently throughout the piece, and it is only at its very end that there is any obvious reiteration of previously stated material. The patterns of repetition and variation of the material in this short section are typical ofEdwards's structural approach in the sacred music. Less typical in Reflections is the overall pattern of repetition and variation. As stated above a considerable number of new motives is introduced as the piece progresses, but there is little reiteration of material until the last fifth of the work. Still less typical is the piano solo (bars 75-78) which evokes a strong sense of stylistic coherence, but without the repetition of a single musical idea. This seems alien to the fundamental concept of Edward's sacred music idiom which depends for its trance-like effect upon the insistent repetition of short motivic gestures. The different motives of Reflections, though numerous, have a similarity of construction which creates a feeling of stylistic cohesion. Apart from similar intervallic constructions there is a persistent pattern of motives or sections of motives which involve three closely spaced attack. Some xamples of thi trend are given in Figure 6: the three relevant attacks in each case are numbered. There are further examples of motives with three closely spaced attacks in Reflections but, apart from the piano solo referred to above, almost all musical ideas in the work consist of some small number of closely spaced attacks which are subjected to repetitive treatments along the same lines as previously described for the opening of the work. The intervallic construction of the various motives also contributes to the stylistic uniformity of the work. Most chords involve one or more major seventh intervals although several other intervals, notably the major ninth, minor seventh and major second, are also prominent. Edwards has established for himself an identifiable harmonic language in his sacred series, and there are even sonorities, which aremmon to two or more of the works. The low three tone cluster, for example, is found in each of the five works. Reflections employs four players. One plys piano, another vibraphone, another plays three gongs, tam-tam, cowbell, sandblocks and marimba, and the fourth plays glockenspiel, cowbell, two temple blocks and bass drum. The scoring is dominated by the piano, as it is in all the other works of the series. Chordal attacks by piano and vibraphone are often heard simultaneously with soft gong, tam-tam or cowbell strokes, a technique which yields subtle timbral modifications. Even though the piano seems to dominate most of the motives, it is the sound of the vibraphone which lingers at the end of many of the complex sonorities. The opportunity of using a wider variety of timbres than in the previous three works of the series has enabled the composer to explore to a greater extent his idea of the randomness of the intersecting rhythms of nature. Yet the expansion of the textural field in Reflections and the associated proliferation of musical ideas can in some ways be regarded as a regression from the austere compositional perfection of The Tower of Remoteness, Kumari and Etymalong to the richer textural concepts of Shadow D-Zone. The piano solo in Reflections may even be considered as reminiscent of the flamboyant Monos II (1970). Considering the mixture of old and new compositional approaches in Reflections it will be interesting to see how the sacred Reflections was commissioned by Synergy, who first performed the work in the Sydney Opera House on 7 July 1985." -- Michael Hannan
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Classical Music
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