Mythic

A few years after my return to Australia, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra commissioned me to write a lively orchestral work that they could premiere and play on tour. The resulting piece, Heaven is Closed, is a quick, energetic, rhythmically driven work. Thus, when the orchestra asked me for a new piece, my instinct was to write something totally different. It grew out of a passacaglia-like chordal progression which had grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go. I wanted to attempt a direction I had not explored previously, and that was to stay in a slow, dark mood for a lengthy period and to see where that took me. Eventually it grew into a kind of a hymn with variations, sometimes almost romantic, that made extensive use of the orchestra's brass section. The title Mythic refers to this mental image I had of musically entering into a large, mythical cave.

“The highlight of this concert was undoubtedly the new work by one of Australia’s leading figures in contemporary music… Mythic’s themes relate to Greek narrative and the Olympic challenge… A fantastic evocative piece that shows the genius of this composer’s creativity.
The Mercury