Bittersweet Symphony will receive its world premiere on 25 October at Adelaide Town Hall. Commissioned by Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and conducted by Alpesh Chauhan, the work will be performed in Koehne’s home town.
Running for approximately 15 minutes in one continuous movement, Bittersweet Symphony oscillates between light and dark, lyrical episodes and more rhythmically driven episodes, intensity and earnestness as opposed to other more casual and insouciant sections. Hence bitter and sweet. The overall mood of the piece is ebullient and lively, shifting between these states.
“One of Australia’s most intriguing postmodern voices”
Mark Swed, LA Times
Like his earlier orchestral work Unchained Melody, Bittersweet Symphony is a title borrowed from popular culture (The Verve’s hit song in the early 90s of the same name). Whilst there is no thematic musical reference made to The Verve’s work, the idea of bitterness and sweetness is evident.
Graeme Koehne writes:
“this composition is a reaction to the prevailing sense in so much contemporary music that it must be tragic to be meaningful. Pieces are often sanctimonious about some social or political issue du jour. I think that art has so much more to offer, but there are some emotions that we’re almost not allowed to include as serious artists like charm, jauntiness and liveliness – these sorts of things just aren’t talked about anymore – so that’s what the piece is really about. It’s not actually a programmatic, it’s an aesthetic discussion in music.”
The concert concludes with Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz.
October 25-26
Adelaide Town Hall
Australia
