Compositions

Dreamtime Requiem for didgeridoo, guitar and orchestra (2013) 30′
3(picc, afl), 3(eh), 3(eb,bcl), 3(bass b) – 4, 2, 3(btr), 1 – timp(2), perc(5), didge, guitar, str 14,12,10,8,6
First movement in four parts: The Birth of Song – The Initiation of Dance – Nature – Requiem (Songline)
Premiere on 19.12.2013 at the Cologne Philharmonie, Mark Atkins (didgeridoo), Wulfin Lieske (guitar) WDR Symphony Orchestra conductor: Yutaka Sado

"Dreamtime" combines the "symphonic poem" genre with that of a double concerto. As amplified solo instruments, guitar and didgeridoo contrast with the full ensemble of the symphony orchestra.
In this unusual instrumentation, two musical cultures meet that could not be more apposite: unchanged for 4,000 years, the didgeridoo is the traditional wind instrument of the Australian aborigines. Hollowed-out by termites, the eucalyptus trunk produces a rich polyrhythmic and overtone interplay with underlying bourdon. For its part, the full orchestra is the apogee of Western music culture in the richness of its harmonic-tonal diversity. Nevertheless, it is as if the didgeridoo soloist turns the orchestra into one magnificent didgeridoo. The guitar interacts permanently with the didgeridoo and forges - also as an archaic instrument  - a link between the two opposites. Dimensioned for seven musicians, the percussion instrument explores the soloist's sound world.
Lasting around a half an hour, the work is based on the keynote B of the didgeridoo (the lowest-pitched guitar string is tuned to the B). The work is divided into the following four pieces:
The Birth of Song - The Initiation of Dance - Nature (Wind/Insects/Dying) - Requiem/Stele/Songline
The work focuses on a tribute to two different cultures, without overlooking their threatened condition. "Dreamtime" recounts how the two worlds are a source of mutual inspiration, achieving a synthesis that produces a new musical language.

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