A Mega Masquerade
(2023)
ten dead species for sinfonietta
1/picc/alto.1/ca.1/bass.1/contra 1.1.1.0 2 perc 1 synth 1 pno elec 1.1.1.1.1
I. Prehistory II. A Pouch Lion Ponders (Marsupial Lion) III. Ravenous Rainbow (Giant Serpent) IV. Protohistory I V. Murray Gets A Lickin’ (Giant Echidna) VI. Protohistory II VII. Big(-Time) Roamer (Giant Goanna) VIII. March Of The Vombatomorphs (Giant Wombat) IX. Protohistory III X. The Demon Duck Of Doom (Giant Flightless Bird) XI. Quinkana Does The Four-Step (Giant Terrestrial Crocodile) XII. Protohistory IV XIII. Boinging Goliath (Giant Kangaroo) XIV. Protohistory V XV. Nuggety Chicken Runs (Giant Malleefowl) XVI. Thylacine’s Lament (Tasmanian Tiger) XVII. History
commissioned by the Australian Youth Orchestra Momentum Ensemble
premiered by the Australian Youth Orchestra Momentum Ensemble with Christoph Altstaedt conducting on 19 April 2024 in the Cell Block Theatre, Darlinghurst, NSW and 21 April 2024 at the UKARIA Cultural Centre, Mount Barker, SA, Australia
featured in Demon Ducks and Pandemonium!! (Sydney), Demon Ducks and Pandemonium!! (Mt Barker)
recording: complete ~ Australian Youth Orchestra Momentum Ensemble; Christoph Altstaedt, conductor
recording: movement by movement ~ Australian Youth Orchestra Momentum Ensemble; Christoph Altstaedt, conductor
score available through The Australian Music Centre
duration: 25’
genre: Orchestral, Chamber - Large, Electronic
category: Ambrosia, Esoterica
Australia’s ancient megafauna is the central inspiration for A Mega Masquerade. Sadly, these enormous animals– giant kangaroos, wombats, snakes, crocodiles, echidnas, birds – are no longer with us, having largely died out tens of thousands of years ago. That distance, nevertheless, allows the musical imagination to run wild. Each creature represented in this work is given their own vibrant personality through a wide range of traditional and contemporary harmonies and orchestrations, as well as non-standard noise-makers and electronic(ally manipulated) sounds. In a way, this catalogue of creatures evokes an old favourite of the repertoire, Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals, with all its delightful silliness. But Mega has others layers too. The ten ‘animal’ movements are part of a larger musical landscape, whose dramatic contortions reflect the impact of climate change - natural and manmade – on their lives and deaths. In a sense then, the piece is an elegy: these larger-than-life beings are part of a giant musical ‘mandala’, a spiritual symmetry which commemorates their peculiar cosmos and their particular place in it.
