Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

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It is listed in our catalogue because an event featuring a performance of this work was included in our calendar of Australian music. Details of this performance are listed below.

Work Overview

Starlight and Sunbursts are two movements for solo flute that can be performed separately or together. 'Starlight' was composed for premiered by Andrew Day in 2012. In 2023, Johanna composed a second movement to partner 'Starlight'. Entitled 'Sunbursts', it was premiered by Johanna at the Australian Flute Festival in October2023. Consistent with her approach more generally, the effect is not merely a literal depiction of light emitted from starts or burst of the sun, but also suggestive of a mood or psychological state brought about by meditation on the idea and experience of such cosmic events. Starlight references Debussy's iconic 'Syrinx' for solo flute. The performer is directed to play in a manner that is 'spacious, unhurried, very free and with purity of tone'. In contrast, in 'Sunbursts' the effects are brilliant, cascading, and virtuosic. The use of timbral trills and harmonics enhances the atmosphere. Both pieces can be performed with delay and reverb pedal effects, in which case an almost improvised effect is achieved by pausing and interacting with the resonant echoes.

Work Details

Year: 2012

Instrumentation: Flute.

Duration: 4 min.

Difficulty: Medium

First performance: by David Laughton, Andrew Day at Flute and piano music of Johanna Selleck (Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM)) on 17 Nov 2012