LockDown Miniatures Nos 1 - 10 (70 pieces in 70 days)
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I was putting the final edits on my horn concerto for ASPEN and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra on March 16, when our worlds fell apart. I, like all musicians, had two choices - turn my creative soul off for the year, or develop a project that enabled me to have a creative and artistic outlet that kept me going and allowed me to tell the story from the perspective of a composer in lockdown. On the 18th of March I began writing a series of miniatures for friends and dear colleagues who were in lockdown. Most had lost all of their creative opportunities in 2020 and all were partnered with another musician, so their fractured lives and financial anguish was doubled. Many had lost their spirit and some were in quarantine after returning from overseas. I allowed myself 90 minutes a day to complete one miniature, then sent the work to the recipients. Spirits that were somehow trapped by blankness of diaries were revived. On the 3rd of June, I finished 70 miniatures in 70 days, without one day being missed, for 10 groups of colleagues and friends. The composing of these 70 miniatures tells a composer's perspective and story about the various significant milestones of the Covid-19 crisis, including an "In Memoriam" every Monday, for the ever increasing number of worldwide deaths, and for the victims at Newmarch House, Tim Brooke Taylor, a silent and isolated Anzac Day, and the endless site of graves in Spain, Italy, Brazil and New York. The impact the writing of these daily miniatures has had on my composing techniques and habits has been immense. Racing against the clock everyday, has allowed me to quickly develop ideas in a more concise way, and has allowed me to burst through any blocks with ideas or inspiration. Since they just had to be written, any idea, even vague ones, had to be developed into a piece of music, and in a hurry. For the musicians I have written for, it has given them some daily joy and a much needed reason to get their instruments out of their case.
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Music composition and improvisation
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Dean, P, LockDown Miniatures Nos 1 - 10 (70 pieces in 70 days), 2020