Richard Meale: Interiors/Exteriors (1970) - Interior 1

Abstract

"Commissioned to commemorate the work of Professor John Bishop, the founder of the Adelaide Festival of Arts, Interiors/Exteriors was first performed in 1970 during the sixth Adelaide Festival. The work divides broadly into two sections, consisting of Field I, Interior I, Exterior I, and Field II, Interior II, Exterior II. The Fields are treated as preparatory sections, and serve to introduce the musical ideas. These are then expanded upon in the Interior and Exterior sections, each of which highlights an opposing treatment of the idea. For example, in Field I the two pianos are in dialogue with each other, presenting the musical material which is eventually taken up by the percussion in Interior I. Exterior I provides a further explication of this musical idea, eventually developing and extending it beyond its boundaries to set up the second field. Thus the two sections are interrelated, both in their musical material, and in their structural concept. The concept of an interior and exterior is reinforced by the spatial positioning of the instruments. Scored for two pianos and percussion, the two pianos are placed between the percussion, and are spread as far apart as possible, thus achieving a stereo effect. Meale later orchestrated the work, and it was first performed in this form in 1992 by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra." -- Jaki Kane