Update, Oct 2019: this piece is now rehearsed and embarking on tour. Details and tickets here. Here is my ‘program note’ while heeding Artistic Director Antony Pitts’ wish to have no program and no title …
Untitled (2019) for Voices – Lyle Chan
Human beings are meaning-seeking creatures. Spiritual teachers and psychologists alike tell us this. We hunger for meaning, and when it’s not supplied, we make it up. When we are offered only glimpses of the world, we construct maps. Things simply happen, but we explain them anyway. We rationalize. Justify. A sudden aroma and our minds fill with childhood. A sound and our thoughts are carried away with a memory that strikes without warning. Voices, and we think language must be present – because, surely, no person would utter a sound unless they were communicating, or would they.
First performance at Sydney Opera House, Utzon Room. Photo by Grace Chan
Update, 18 Oct 2018: we hit our fundraising goal! Thank you so much to the 19 donors, who will each receive an individualised thank-you card and updates on the progress of the composition!
I’m thrilled to say I’m one of 19 composers being commissioned by The Song Company in 2019.
It’s a very unusual specification. We have been given the challenge of creating a work using only sounds and no words.
Why no words? Antony Pitts, Artistic Director of The Song Company says:
“We want our audience to experience the raw power of vocal music without being told what to think upfront. Everyone brings their own meaning and associations to the sounds they hear. By reacting directly to the harmonies and even noises that will make up this multi-composer tapestry, I think we will all have a unique opportunity to get closer to the music – to be part of the Australian musical landscape.”
“We want our audience to experience the raw power of vocal music without being told what to think upfront. Everyone brings their own meaning and associations to the sounds they hear. By reacting directly to the harmonies and even noises that will make up this multi-composer tapestry, I think we will all have a unique opportunity to get closer to the music – to be part of the Australian musical landscape.”
To raise funds for this project including my composer’s fee, the Song Company has created this page. All donations are tax-deductible and I will personally thank you!
