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AGE OF WONDERS
To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of
Charles Darwin, Michael is writing a four stage work
which begins as a piece for violin and piano, and
evolves through string quartet and string orchestra
to a work for full orchestra.
I The Man Who Walked
With Henslow (violin and piano)
II String Quartet No.2 (The Beagle)
III An Entangled Bank (string orchestra)
IV Transmutations (full orchestra)
The Man Who Walked
With Henslow
(violin and piano)
This work takes as its basis the early life of Charles
Darwin and the main events within his childhood and
teenage years. These include the death of his mother,
his studies in Edinburgh and Cambridge, his association
with Professor Henslow, and his readiness for the
voyage on the Beagle. This one-movement piece sets
up and establishes the structural motifs which form
the basis of the whole work, and to some extent has
a character contemporary to the time. One important
quotation is used, from Beethoven's Piano Sonata No.
24, published in 1809, the year of Darwin's birth.
The first performance is at the Wigmore Hall on Wednesday
January 21st in a programme which includes works by
Mendelssohn and Chausson. For the full introduction,
click here
String Quartet
No. 2 (The Beagle)
This two-movement work (outward journey and return)
reflects the main components of Darwin's voyage: Departure,
Brazil, Sargasso Sea, Tierra del Fuego, Chile, Galapagos
Islands, and Home. Included in the musical development
from The Man Who Walked With Henslow are resonances
of eight of Darwin's Finches, taken from original
recordings of their songs. To be premièred
by the Maggini Quartet on February 28th in a programme
which includes Schubert, Piazzola and Mendelssohn.
For a full introduction, click here
An Entangled Bank
(string orchestra)
The section titles of this three-movement work are
Down House; Origins; Publication. After Darwin's return
from his round-the-world voyage in 1836, he married
and settled in Down House, Kent. His routine of family
and work culminated in his famous publications, notably
On the Origin of Species and The Descent of Man. While
the first movement of this work reflects the character
of the house, family life and the bells of Downe village,
the second explores further the material of The Man
Who Walked With Henslow and the string quartet. The
third movement takes as its basis the panic of Darwin
when Wallace introduced a similar idea of evolution,
the controversy of publication ("…a sorry
contribution to knowledge": The Times), and the
subsequent attacks on Darwin's writing. The most famous
occasion was undoubtedly the 1860 debate at the Oxford
University Museum of Natural History, where the main
opponent to Darwin's theory was Samuel Wilberforce,
Bishop of Oxford. However, years after Wilberforce's
death, a poem was found (written by Wilberforce) which
indicated that his views were perhaps not so rigidly
antagonistic to Darwin. The overall title, Age of
Wonders, is taken from this poem. For the full introduction,
click here
The work will be
included in the Wigmore Hall concert (see above).
Transmutations
(for full orchestra)
Commissioned by the Darwin Symphony Orchestra, this
one movement work, in four sections, takes more modern
scientific developments as its basis, and forms the
concluding interpretation of the musical evolution.
It will acknowledge the bells of a new sculpture in
Darwin, Australia, and receive its first performance
in September 2009 following performances of the previous
sections.
With sincere thanks
for the support from:
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