Silver Sands Guitar Quartet Debut: The World in a Single Grain
Author Identifier (ORCID)
Research Statement
Research Background
This concert explored works for guitar quartet of post-minimalist in style, with particular emphasis on new/recent Australian works and the fusion of rock and classical aesthetics. The program was inspired by the poem of William Blake: “To see the world in a grain of sand,” particularly how repetitive musical processes can blur the perception of time’s passing. Elsewhere (e.g. Paget & Fitzgerald, 2012) it is argued that Australian landscapes provide a visual corollary to musical minimalism (and hence this programmatic conceit).
Research Contribution
The collage of works presented represents innovative curation, creating threads between works spanning rock, pop-trance, and pictorial post-minimalism. This juxtaposition brings fresh interpretative perspective and spotlights the expressive elements of minimalism in its rhythmic, temporal, and motivic processes. This program also demonstrates new ways to replicate rock idioms on classical instruments, through timbral inflection, rhythmic energy, and tonal projection—especially in Budos’s tribute to Bowie, and “Outcrop” (an innovative adaptation created in collaboration with WA composer Felton that manipulated textural ideas for expressive effect within the idiom of 4 guitars). Innovation was also demonstrated in several new arrangements (Villa-Lobos, Felton, Koehne), and adaptations (Davidson), through modifications of texture, register, timbre, and technique to enhance technical efficacy and expressive efficacy. These performative experiments create new precedents in arrangement and performance for four classical guitars.
Research Significance
This program was the opening concert of the newly renovated historic North Perth Town Hall and promoted through the Classical Guitar Society of WA. It received significant local press coverage in Perth Voice, Fremantle Herald, Voice, and ABC national radio, as well as superlative review feedback from professional colleagues.
Non-Traditional Research Output
Live Performance
Document Type
Non-Traditional Research Output
Date of Publication
2023
Publication Title
Silver Sands Guitar Quartet: The World in a Single Grain
School
Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts
RAS ID
70301
Event Dates
September 17, 2023
Event Venue
North Perth Town Hall
Comments
Paget, J., Riollot, I., Lake, C., Dorrian, E. (2023). Silver Sands Guitar Quartet Debut: The World in a Single Grain. [Sound files]. North Perth Town Hall.