Monsoon Time

Abstract

Research Background: This work for SATB choir and piano accompaniment was written in response to a call for scores by Wirripang for an Australian Choral Anthology. The text is a poem by Elvira Davis, a poet from Far North Queensland. My role is composer. This work continues many years of writing for voice in both the classical and jazz idioms; in particular I am committed to working with texts by women writers as they are less well represented than men among published musical works. Research Contribution: The musical setting of the text evokes the feeling of the monsoon with its inexorable rain, the freshness it brings to the air and the activities of the various animals that emerge. The piano supports the voices, but it has an independent character as well, similar to the role it plays in art song where it is an integral part of musical whole, rather than simply serving as harmonic support. The harmonic language is jazz inflected, which builds on a theme in my compositional practice of combining elements of classical music and jazz. Research Significance: Wirripang is the leading Australian independent print music publisher of classical and jazz Australian music. All works published by Wirripang are peer-reviewed, with the panel including distinguished composers, performers and academics from Victoria and NSW universities.