In celebration of Perth 800 and Perth Concert Hall's fifth birthday, sister venue Perth Concert Hall Australia has gifted the Fair City a visit by Australia's top string quartet who will perform the world premiere of a new work specially commissioned to mark this historic year.
The Australian String Quartet will premiere Toward Silence by Iain Grandage, in Perth Concert Hall on Wednesday 22 September.
Perfectly placed to create the new work, one of Australia's most creative and awarded young composers, Iain Grandage has strong links to this country through his Scottish parentage and also spent several years living in Perth, Australia.
Toward Silence takes its inspiration from the meeting traditions of the local Noongah people of the Perth region. When groups of indigenous people come together for important ceremonies, they all talk for days and days, often over each other, 'clearing the air' for the ceremonies to come. They gradually talk themselves out and fall to silence, all finally on the same page and ready for the serious business. This story has parallels with the western idea of the 'overture' - a natural opening to a concert. As the dramaturgy of the story suggests, the piece opens very actively and slowly reconciles itself to a beautiful chorale at the end.
Andrew Bolt, general manager at Perth Concert Hall in Australia who came up with the idea of marking the special anniversaries with the unique gift said:
"What more permanent record can be made than a piece of music that is written specifically for the purpose, and yet can be performed forever after with the reference to its origins always being known... our gift will be permanent and whenever the work is performed it will be remembered that its origins began from this important point in history, for the city in which it is birthed and the venues it binds,
"In my greeting five years ago on the occasion of the opening of Perth Concert Hall in Scotland I wrote of your "beautiful concert venue and of how I had no doubt it will quickly become an integral part of the creative life of your wonderful city, and will provide a central focus for the artistic endeavours of your community. So it has... and in each of my visits over the past five years I have noticed how integral and successful the Perth Concert Hall has become and how dedicated the staff are. In our birthday gift of music to you through the performance of the Australian String Quartet, and the commissioned work celebrating the 800 birthday of Perth we move into a new aspect of cultural exchange between our venues and cities.
"Happy 800th birthday to the people of Perth (you carry your age beautifully!), and happy fifth birthday to your wonderful and vibrant Perth Concert Hall."
Chief executive of Horsecross Arts, the creative organisation behind Perth Concert Hall and Perth Theatre, Jane Spiers, said:
"What an amazing gesture! We are enormously grateful to Andrew, Iain and to the rest of our friends in Australia for this gift to Perth and we are looking forward to the exciting prospect of experiencing a world premiere in our venue. We have developed a fantastic relationship in the five years since our launch and would like to thank the whole Perth Concert Hall Australia team for all the support and friendship we have enjoyed during this time - long may it continue."
The Australian String Quartet will also perform works by Mendelssohn and Schubert at the concert in Perth Concert Hall on Wednesday 22 September at 7.30pm. Tickets and information from Horsecross Arts Box Office on 01738 621 031, click here. Kids go free and Perthshire residents are half price!