La Chûte d'Icare

6:30pm, Sunday 27 June 1999
The Studio, Sydney Opera House

ELISION Ensemble, Carl ROSMAN conductor
Anthony BURR and Stephanie McCALLUM soloists

Brian FERNEYHOUGH La Chûte d'Icare: Petite Sérénade de la Disparition (1988)

solo clarinet, flute/piccolo/alto/bass, oboe/cor anglais, percussion, pianoforte, violin, violoncello, contrabass
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

Karlheinz ESSL elision (1997)

bass clarinet, horn, contrabass, percussion
WORLD PREMIERE

Liza LIM The Heart's Ear (1997)

flute/piccolo, clarinet, violin I, violin II, viola, violoncello

Adam YEE yashar yeHezu panemo (1996)

clarinet in C, violin, cornet, violoncello
WORLD PREMIERE

Brian FERNEYHOUGH Lemma-Icon-Epigram (1981)

solo piano

Isabel MUNDRY Le silence -- tystnaden (1993)

flute/piccolo, oboe/cor anglais, clarinet, horn, trumpet, trombone, violin I, violin II, viola, violoncello, contrabass, percussion
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

"elision was commissioned by the Australian ELISION Ensemble by its artistic director Daryl BUCKLEY whom I met in November 1993 after the premier of Entsagung at IRCAM (Paris). I stayed constantly in contact with Daryl Buckley discussing various topics related to this composition where we realized that we share a similar view of composition aujourd'hui: music that emerges as a sound process by the interaction of highly complex materials and its subsequent derivations."

The above statement of Karlheinz ESSL, revealing his emphasis upon the interaction of complex materials, holds broadly true for many of the composers presented in this programme. Adam YEE, for instance, is concerned with the detailed elaboration of a harmonic architecture that, at a localised level, is extraordinarily intricate in its microtonal, rhythmic and `melodic´ conception.

The Ferneyhough works continue to build the repertoire base for ELISION Ensemble's Ferneyhough recording project. The first release, on the ETCETERA label, has met with strong critical acclaim in the New York Times, BBC Music Magazine and Repertoire. The inclusion of The Heart's Ear of Liza LIM also draws attention to a new compact disc of the same name on ABC Classics, documenting a decade long relationship between this composer and the musicians of ELISION Ensemble, and more recently those of Ensemble Modern of Germany.

Carl ROSMAN, Elizabeth SELLARS, Rosanne HUNT, Anthony BURR, Peter HORSFALL (yashar yeHezu panemo)

Joan WRIGHT, Anthony BURR, Joanne MONTESANO, Peter NEVILLE, Carl ROSMAN (elision)

Ensemble (Le silence -- tystnaden)

Presented by the Sydney Opera House Trust and the Goethe Institut-Sydney. yashar yeHezu panemo was commissioned by ELISION Ensemble with the assistance of the Australia Council. elision was commissioned by ELISION Ensemble with the assistance of the Österrichischen Ministeriums für Bildung und Kunst

ELISION, Australia's national new music ensemble, gratefully acknowledges the assistance of the Commonwealth of Australia through the Australia Council, it arts funding and advisory body, and the The University of Queensland through the Office of the Vice Chancellor, Professor John HAY