Instrumentation

• Flute
• Violin
• Cello
• Piano

Duration

c. 6 minutes

Creation Note

Shutter was written especially for My Love is a House, a concert of works presented by Thea Zimpel and inspired by poetry by Martina Hoffmann. It received its premiere on 2nd August, 2014 at the Wesley Music Centre, Canberra.

About the work

Each composer for this concert chose a stanza from Martina Hoffmann’s poem My Love is a House to serve as inspiration.  I chose this one:

On some days my love closes its shutters,
the door shut tight,
skylight covered.
My Love is a House © 2013 Martina Hoffmann

The work is in three miniature movements, each titled after one of these lines.  The music is introspective, and I’ve experimented with word painting via minimalist processes.  In each movement I tried to find different ways to reflect the themes of retreat, privacy and solitude present in the poetic extract: intervals between scale tones narrowing; rhythms that slow to a halt; descent from the lighter, higher registers into the darker, lower ones.

P.P. 2014

Availability

Score & Parts

Available from the composer by request.

Performances

First performance: 2nd August, 2014 at the Wesley Music Centre, Canberra.

Online

Event website.