Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

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Work Overview

Peane for Hyacinth opens with a dark and cold first movement, and introduces the listener to the main musical material present throughout the entirety of the work. This movement then bleeds into the opening chords of the second movement (fig. A).

The second movement is relatively conventional in its structure with passages for soloists, orchestra, and a cadenza followed by a coda.

The third movement (fig. N) is a short flourish for the orchestra, a sort of "dawn chorus" followed by a duet or love song (fig. Q) for the two soloists with some interjections from the orchestra.

The work's title and inspiration come from the mythology of Hyacinth, a youth who loved the god, Apollo. During a playful game of discus-throwing between Hyacinth and Apollo, the west wind Zephyr, in a fit of jealousy, deflects a throw by Apollo, hitting the youth and killing him.

It is from Hyacinth's blood that the flower bearing his name was born.

A "peane" is a hymn in the name of Apollo. This work is a depiction of a love song the young

hero (the clarinet) may have sung to Apollo (in traditional Greek mythology represented by the Lyre - in this composition, the Harp).

The orchestra's role at the beginning is as Zephyr, eventually taking over by the end of the movement. The third movement, (dawn chorus) is inspired by the natural world of these mythical figures, followed by a final love duet for the hero and the God.

Work Details

Year: 2012

Instrumentation: Solo Clarinet, solo harp, chamber orchestra

Duration: 25 min.

Commission note: Commissioned by Victorian Youth Symphony Orchestra.