BY MICHAEL BAKRNČEV
Composer Michael Bakrnčev talks about commissioning other Australian composers for his orchestra The Melbourne Metropolitan Sinfonietta.
You’re constantly worried when they don’t return your emails. You fret because the parts might not arrive on time. You bite your nails in fear that the composer will ask the musicians to do something bizarre like slap the conductor across the face during the performance, and you worry that the music is going to make the audience walk out in disgust.
Welcome to the world of commissioning new orchestral music. Thankfully, only two of those things have happened so far (I’ll let you guess which two).
Asking other composers to write for me is a unique and beautiful thing. As a composer first and foremost, I know first-hand what it takes to meet the demands of writing for orchestra, including spotless formatting and layout of the score and parts, and working within the time constraints of a fairly short rehearsal.
When thinking about programming this concert, I already knew I had a backlog of composers who had asked me for the opportunity to write for the Melbourne Met, and those who I had approached specifically. This led me down a fairly straightforward path of who to include, and I knew exactly what I intended to achieve with this concert.
For me, long gone are the days when an Australian composer is asked to write the token ‘filler’ piece, either at the beginning of the concert as a short burst of national pride, or in the middle to break up the Beethoven or Schubert (here you go, Doggy, good boy/girl). Now, it is all about asking composers to go beyond that dreaded 6-8 minute splurge, and demanding from them extended works that allow time for those precious ideas to emerge and take hold. This is why, for our next concert, I have commissioned a violin concerto, a concerto for orchestra and a sonatina for trumpet, all of which are a minimum of 8 minutes.
The violin concerto, composed by Michael Mathieson-Sandars, is going to be a truly mesmerising work. I haven’t seen the score yet, but I know Michael’s work and I know for a fact that it’s going to be thought-provoking with a very sensitive approach to gestures, structure, form and orchestration. One can already imagine that the solo violin part (performed by Alethea Coombe) is going to be completely virtuosic, complete with a soft tenderness, that only a man and his love could possibly achieve.
I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of a concerto for orchestra (ever since listening to Bartok and Lutoslawski), and that is why I asked for just that from Sydney’s Ian Whitney. Whitney’s piece is remarkable and absolutely great – so sayeth the maestro Patrick Burns, who has been ferociously studying the score.
The last is a new work by South Australian-based composer Leah Blankendaal, who is featuring trumpeter Reuben Lewis of the Reuben Lewis Quintet. Leah’s brief was to compose something that will not only demonstrate the full virtuosic skills of Lewis, but also one that will provide a showy end to the concert.
In addition to these new works, we are absolutely delighted to present Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder, with guest dramatic contralto Liane Keegan, who joins the Melbourne Met for the first time.
We cannot wait to get these new pieces into the hearts and minds of our audience, and look forward to seeing you at the concert.
Meet Michael Bakrnčev at this Melbourne Metropolitan Sinfonietta performance, 3pm October 30, St Stephen’s Anglican Church, Richmond. Tickets $20 at the door.
On the program…
R. Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder, Liane Keegan, Dramatic Contralto
M. Mathieson-Sandars: Jongleur Histories, Alethea Coombe, Violin
I. Whitney: The Shepherdess and Other Saints
L. Blankendaal: Hoon, Reuben Lewis, Trumpet
B. Bates: Conglomerate (for orchestra)
Images supplied.
