Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

Concerning Bees was inspired by Applegate's love of honey bees.

The work has six main themes in keeping with the hexagon design of beehive wax cells: 1. What's the Buzz, 2. Hive Mind, 3. Honey Comb, 4. Flower Waltz, 5. All Hail! The Hexagon Queen, and 6. Swarm.

The work is diatonic but draws on octatonic and hexatonic scales that add harmonic interest. Time signatures also nod to the number six, with many passages in 6/8 or 6/4.

The close chromatic scales create a buzzing sound that evokes images of swarming bees.

Bees are an essential part of the world's ecosystem. This work hope to draw attention to their importance.

Work Details

Year: 2022

Instrumentation: Flute, alto saxophone, string quartet.

Duration: 8 min.

Difficulty: Advanced — Saxophone parts calls for multiphonics. Extended technique in flute. Ensemble is challenging in parts due to rapid tempo.

Commission note: Commissioned by Whistling Kite New Music in 2022.

First performance: 25 Feb 23. Studio Theatre, Darwin Entertainment Centre

The composer notes the following styles, genres, influences, etc in relation to this work:
Based on traditional compositional techniques, but with added extended techniques and novelty that add interest for the listener and performers. Impressionistic in style.