Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra and Queensland Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Nicholas Carter, will present the country premieres of Near Midnight by Helen Grime for South Korea and Australia, early next month.
Grime’s orchestral work, Near Midnight, was composed for the Hallé Orchestra during her residency with them between 2011 and 2015. In four main sections, the work begins with low brass and double basses performing eerie music which is interspersed with horn fanfares, before continuing to stabbing orchestral chords which represent the moonlight piercing through the night’s sky.
Extended melody in the violins predominates in the third section forming the essentially melodic core of the work. Bright flourishes in woodwind, celesta and harp gradually take on a more significant role before becoming the central focus. The bell-like fanfares of the earlier sections begin to assert themselves once again before fragments of the restless, surging scales of the opening lead to the work’s main climax.
The final section returns the listener to quieter and reflective sounds invoking sleep.
“The prevailing mood was reflective and melancholy, but Near Midnight doesn’t depict a silent night; clear woodwinds and rustling strings suggested the stirring of birds and other creatures, and periodic brass outbursts depicted the tolling of bells.”
Catherine Reese Newton, Utah Arts Review
7th January 2023
August 3 2024
Concert Hall, QPAC
Brisbane, Australia
Australia
August 9 2024
Lotte Concert Hall
300 Olympic-ro, Songpa District, Seoul
South Korea
