Chinese Whisper
for 12 strings (solo amplified violin, solo amplified cello, string quartet & string sextet)
Commissioned by the Ian Potter Foundation
Performances:
• Libra Ensemble [cond. Mark Knoop, solo vln. Elizabeth Sellers, solo vc. Geoffrey Gartner]
Libra Concert Series, Nov. 2003, Melbourne
• Orfeusz Chamber Orchestra [cond. Jan Jazownik]
International Panufnik Days, Nov. 2002, Kraków, Poland [World Premiere]
“The most sophisticated work on the program…” Ruch Muzyczny, Jan 2003 [Translated from the Polish by Anna Maslowiec]
About Chinese Whisper:
The Chinese Whisper ensemble of twelve string players is divided into three smaller ensembles; an amplified violin and cello duo, a string quartet, and a permanently muted sextet. The three ensembles are considered different characters, each with a unique musical heritage. The muted sextet (tuned a quarter-tone flat) is termed ‘shadow’ and is imagined as an almost forgotten folk music. The string quartet, termed ‘image’, is the most reminiscent of a mainstay classical-music language. The amplified duo (‘silhouette’) is imagined as an outline of something to come, a truly unique musical language. The three characters begin the piece with distinctive stylistic predilections, as though three individuals with uncommon life-stories suddenly find themselves having to engage with one another. The work subsequently unfolds as twelve miniature movements, each movement being a conceptual reiteration of the previous. Like the children’s game ‘Chinese whispers’, however, with each repetition a process of distortion occurs. As the story is repeated and passed around the three characters, they gradually transform from individual entities with distinct languages towards a common amorphous whole. (Damien Ricketson)
Extended essay by Damien Ricketson
Access Chinese Whisper:
An audio excerpt and the score of this work may be available to download on the Music page
