Luminous (orchestra)

Program Note

"Luminous was one of the “Fanfares for a New Millennium” commissioned by the Auckland Philharmonia from 11 New Zealand composers in 1998.

A reviewer at the premiere performance wrote: “This is music suspended in space, existing for its texture only. It locks a continuous event in stillness by eliminating attack and abrupt change. Rhythm and melody are eliminated and replaced by long and sustained chord shifts achieved through clever dovetailing of single notes, tone colours and dynamics.”

When I was invited to write a fanfare for the new millennium I inevitably found myself considering the last 1000 years. For me, the single most striking feature of human history during the last millennium has been the increase in travel and the settling in foreign lands of smaller and smaller groups. In the distant past, an entire race of people would slowly traverse one continent. Today, an individual, in the space of a few days, is able to completely uproot from their homeland and settle in a country on the other side of the world.

A friend of mine, Pan, moved to New Zealand from China. For her, the pressure to integrate two very different sets of beliefs proved ultimately overwhelming. This work is dedicated to her memory."

Further thoughts

The death of my friend Pan was devastating. Our 2-year old sons were buddies at creche. Pan was married to a wonderful man, and was herself gentle, beautiful, and kind. In the weeks leading up to her passing we would talk (often for quite some time) when collecting our boys from creche in the afternoon. It was obvious Pan was struggling and needed to talk. Even though I 'think' I was present and listening and responding with sympathy and empathy, in retrospect it seems like I must have fallen profoundly short in my support of her.

After Pan's funeral I was locked in to write this Millennium fanfare for the Auckland Philharmonia. It was impossible for me to separate this devastating loss from the work I had to create. So the two became fused. There are beautiful waves of harmony overlapping in the music, but I timed the overlaps so there would be moments between each peak where both harmonies were sounding simultaneously. These chords were very at odds with other musically, so these quite ebbs in between the peaks were dissonant, disturbing and (to me), a sounding of horror. As a listener you would be more inclined to mentally file these brief clashes as 'things on the way to other things', a kind of acceptable aberration. But to me they are the heart of the piece. The true meaning of it.

In this way I was able to create a mental/musical memory of my friend Pan that is more vivid than any photo or video. There is the luminousness of her spirit and the personality, as well as the awful tragedy of her passing and the feeling of loss that never goes away.

I've since withdrawn this piece and it's not available for performance. Mainly because the last section has never sounded the way I intended; it requires the brass to play a sustained chord at high intensity for a very long time. Which no brass section has so far been willing to lean into. I take from this that it's an unfair ask and unlikely to ever be realised.

Resources

RESEARCHERS: EXPLORE LUMINOUS ORCHESTRA AT THE ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY

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