Once to Find

This work is a dance suite. Each movement takes its inspiration from a traditional baroque dance style. Traditionally every piece in the suite is in the same key and I had written all five and a half movements mostly in C (that half movement actually exists in order to correct one of the earlier movements not ending in C). And the whole time I was thinking about Stradbroke Island, where the world premiere of this piece will be played. As a child, teenager, and young adult, I spent a lot of time on both South and North Stradbroke islands. I love sand. I love camping on the beach and ending up with a sleeping back full of gritty, immovable patches of it. The only thing I love more than sand though, is water. And in the back of my overly-complicated-creative brain I had been thinking about it the whole time – while very much connected to sand (even the deserts, as my dear husband reminded me, were once the bottoms of oceans), water actually creates it, moulds it, and files it down over time. The point is though, that water takes precedence - for both me and over the existence and purpose of sand. So, combining this revelation with those poignant words from Gaiman/Constantine: If looking without a clouded perspective, it can take just one moment to find what you’re looking for, because it’s already there.

Work Details

Duration: 15 minutes

Composed: 2023

Commissioned by: The Stradbroke Chamber Music Festival

World Premiere: North Stradbroke Island 2023