Peter Sculthorpe...kinda a little urgent...?!
Question: Peter Sculthorpe!.!.!.kinda a little urgent!.!.!.!?
Was his piece "Port Essington" based on the whole tone scale or the pentatonic scale!? If you don't know, do you know what the majority of his music was based around!?!?
Any help would be greatly appreciated, its for an assignment due on Tuesday!
Oh, and anything else you know about "Port Essington" won't be turned down either!.!.!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
Any help would be greatly appreciated, its for an assignment due on Tuesday!
Oh, and anything else you know about "Port Essington" won't be turned down either!.!.!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
Answers:
I don't know the work, but after a cursory scan of parts of the score, I would definitely say that a whole tone scale is not being used!. According to one review I read, the melodies were based on Aboriginal tunes, so pentatonic would be a good guess!. The music cetainly appears to be intensely tonal!. Here is a link with a brief description of the music!.
http://www!.nla!.gov!.au/epubs/sculthorpe/m!.!.!.
There is a good amount of info on Sculthorpe on the web -- google and ye shall find!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
http://www!.nla!.gov!.au/epubs/sculthorpe/m!.!.!.
There is a good amount of info on Sculthorpe on the web -- google and ye shall find!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
Dualism and complexity: Port Essington
Port Essington (1977) is one of Sculthorpe’s best-known works!. It tells of the attempted British settlement in 1838 of Port Essington in northern Australia!. The settlers showed tenacity in withstanding a devastating cyclone in 1839, but ultimately failed to adapt to the conditions of the land!. After 11 years of hardship and isolation, the settlement was abandoned in 1849!.
In the music, a string orchestra represents the bush and a string trio the settlement!. The two groups are pitted against each other!. Against the background of the orchestra, the trio makes several statements in a style imitating nineteenth-century drawing-room music!. Gradually the string orchestra dominates, until at the end only the music of the bush remains!. Just before the trio bids farewell, however, the two groups play briefly in unison, suggesting that a coexistence may have been possible!. Both groups of music are based on the Aboriginal melody, Djilili, but it is only in the part representing the bush that it is easily recognised!. This suggests a common spiritual undercurrent of which the settlers were unaware!.
Sculthorpe writes that ‘Port Essington is really an allegory about Australia!.’ It also speaks of his own coming to terms with his European heritage and illustrates the way in which, for him, personal and national issues are intertwined!.
Port Essington is also a good example of the way in which the notion of dualism—a clashing of opposites until a synthesis is found—has been a driving force in both his musical technique and aesthetic!. His music engages the complexity inherent in the issue of Australian identity!. ‘What is Australian music!?’ he asks!. ‘If this could be answered, I’d probably stop writing music and answer questions
http://www!.nla!.gov!.au/epubs/sculthorpe/m!.!.!.Www@Enter-QA@Com
Port Essington (1977) is one of Sculthorpe’s best-known works!. It tells of the attempted British settlement in 1838 of Port Essington in northern Australia!. The settlers showed tenacity in withstanding a devastating cyclone in 1839, but ultimately failed to adapt to the conditions of the land!. After 11 years of hardship and isolation, the settlement was abandoned in 1849!.
In the music, a string orchestra represents the bush and a string trio the settlement!. The two groups are pitted against each other!. Against the background of the orchestra, the trio makes several statements in a style imitating nineteenth-century drawing-room music!. Gradually the string orchestra dominates, until at the end only the music of the bush remains!. Just before the trio bids farewell, however, the two groups play briefly in unison, suggesting that a coexistence may have been possible!. Both groups of music are based on the Aboriginal melody, Djilili, but it is only in the part representing the bush that it is easily recognised!. This suggests a common spiritual undercurrent of which the settlers were unaware!.
Sculthorpe writes that ‘Port Essington is really an allegory about Australia!.’ It also speaks of his own coming to terms with his European heritage and illustrates the way in which, for him, personal and national issues are intertwined!.
Port Essington is also a good example of the way in which the notion of dualism—a clashing of opposites until a synthesis is found—has been a driving force in both his musical technique and aesthetic!. His music engages the complexity inherent in the issue of Australian identity!. ‘What is Australian music!?’ he asks!. ‘If this could be answered, I’d probably stop writing music and answer questions
http://www!.nla!.gov!.au/epubs/sculthorpe/m!.!.!.Www@Enter-QA@Com