Peter Mcnamara
Land of Cruelty
Land of Cruelty
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For amplified, ring-modulated oboe soloist and orchestra
The works incorporates a form of real-time electronic processing to the soloist’s part known as ring-modulation. This occurs when the amplified signal of the oboe soloist is multiplied together with a modulating frequency provided by an obligatodouble bass player, creating a harsh but vivid sonority reminiscent of the Australian landscape.
Land of Cruelty’s narrative is the depiction of harsh landscape transitions evident in our continent where an area can be densely covered in life one year, but completely dry and devoid of life the next. The oboe soloist is the navigator of this journey and depicts the ‘voice of the land’, with much of its melodic material influenced by transcriptions of Australian Aboriginal melodies. The pitches of one melody entitled Malayah (quoted at the opening and closing of the work) are multiplied together to create the various ring-modulated effects. Each section of the work is defined by a ring-modulated sonority realised by the oboe soloist and double bass that is then re-synthesised by the orchestra before transitioning into a more harmonious sonority. These orchestrated colours provide a sonic canvas, crafted and moulded over time, over which the oboe soloist is placed.
Composed 2018
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ISMN 9790720227795
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