BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Diaphanous Nebulosities.
Say it out loud, and it’s even better.
The concept of this new composition is just as ambitious as the name: it explores time itself through half an hour of solo timpani.
Sound intense? Ask Matthew Goddard. The piece was composed for him by Scott McIntyre (who once asked us “Am I really creative?” and the answer is, obviously, yes.)
Both artists Tasmanian, they will together experience the world premiere of Diaphanous Nebulosities at the Farrall Centre in Hobart this week.
Matthew, who was raised in Tassie but studied at the Victorian College of the Arts, has worked with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa, Musica Viva in Schools program, and recorded an ARIA-nominated CD of Percy Grainger percussion works. Next year will mark his second decade as principal timpanist of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
Matthew, your upcoming performance of Diaphanous Nebulosities sounds exciting. But first, take us back to when you first met composer Scott McIntyre.
I think Scott and I probably met during some kind of new music activity at the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra some years ago. Scott came to a performance of a set of timpani pieces written by Phil Treloar that I performed a number of times a few years ago, and some aspects of those works that caught his attention are explored in this new work.
The work is composed for solo timpani and assistant. How does all of this work?
As it turns out, I’ll be performing only Part 1 of Diaphanous Nebulosities, and am able to do that without needing an assistant. Much of the work is written for ‘prepared’ timpani. Metallic instruments such as temple bowls and gongs are placed on or hung above the timpani, and the resonant qualities of the timpani are used to create a sympathetic resonance when these other instruments are played.
The timpani are a pitched instrument, with the pitch being altered by way of a pedal mechanism that tightens and loosens the timpani head thus changing the pitch. If you place a temple bowl on a timpani head and strike the bowl, you’ll hear the sound of the bowl. But if you change the note that the timpani is tuned to, then different harmonics from the temple bowl are amplified creating a different sound.
A similar but more subtle effect is created using an instrument suspended above the timpani. The role of the assistant in the work would be to move these instruments in and out of place and assist with other logistics, perhaps even playing the occasional note. However, I can manage without help for Part 1.
This segues into a discussion about Part 2, which utilises quite large number of drums set up above the timpani as well as much more use of the timpani purely as timpani. During the course of preparing for this performance, it became obvious that it was not possible to get around the set-up. So we’re going to revisit it in the future in a new version, which will be scored for two players so the assistant will in fact become a duo partner.
The work is half-an-hour long. As a timpanist, what do you need in a composition to sustain the audience with your solo instrument?
That’s a tricky question. Timpani aren’t necessarily the greatest solo instrument, although there are some very interesting and enjoyable works in the solo repertoire. It needs to be about more than just drums and rhythm. There is much that is possible with timpani both melodically and in terms of colour. I see Part 1 of Diaphanous Nebulosities as creating a sound world for the listener to experience.
The work draws on the idea of suspending time. Why is this a concept that can be expressed through your instrument – or, even musically at all?
The metallic instruments used in the piece have quite a lot of sustain, and the writing has a lot of space and isn’t overtly rhythmic in character. I think that this helps to disguise the passage of time.
As a performer, I’m reading through the score at a constant pace (whatever that may be) and there are events that happen along the way. I hope that the listener simply experiences the sound world in the moment.
How closely did you work with Scott in his composition of the piece?
We didn’t spend a lot of time together. We had a session where we tried out some ideas around this notion of sympathetic resonance and found what instruments worked well. We also chatted a little about a scene from the end of 2001: A Space Odyssey, which I have in mind while I’m playing.
We spent some time talking through the [elements] in Part 2 and how we might deal with them for a future performance.
What do you hope listeners will learn about the timpani once you’re through with them?
I think the listeners will hear timpani used in different way to how they usually hear them!
Watch Matthew Goddard perform the world premiere of Scott McIntyre’s Diaphanous Nebulosities at the New Music Concert, 7.30pm June 30 in the Farrell Centre, Hobart.
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