Published
10th Jul 2025
The story behind Antarctica
This blog post follows the story of my piece Antarctica from duet to chamber orchestra.
If you are at all familiar with my scores you may have noticed that there are usually several arrangements of the same piece. Writing chamber music for the general public is very much a hit and miss task because there are so many different combinations of instruments who might want to play together, not to mention variations in ability level.
That's why I took advantage of the opportunities presented to me as a member of the Australian Chamber Music Society - to seek opportunities to compose for players who performed regularly with their own groups, to ensure the scores fit the performers' needs.
When I don't have specfic musicians in mind, I usually make as many arrangements as are fitting with each piece. This habit has given me a great deal of practice in choosing which instruments blend well together, but also means it can be hard to find a fitting arrangement among the many scores I have since published. I’ve even written the odd public domain arrangement (of Clair de Lune for concert band) but couldn’t resist adding some extra countermelodies.
While each piece has it's own reason for being, my piece called Antarctica (for example), started with the callout I made to members of the Australian Amateur Chamber Music Society (of which I was a member), offering to write scores for members (for free). I was pleased to receive a large number of responses and spent the month of October 2022 busily fulfilling many of these requests.
It was a fantastic experience for me that inspired many pieces that I am quite happy to have written. One piece I called Antarctica which begins with a deceptively sedate intro of gentle harmonies and snatches of melody that build gradually to lead into the fast-paced interlaced countermelodies featuring melodes climbing and sliding over one-another to a beat that always gets my toes tapping!
I like to imagine the busy wildlife of Antartica romping around, marine birds and animals alike, swooping around one another as they play or gather food. Happy Feet move over! Set against this is the ever-present threat of the rise in sea levels, casting an ominous shadow over the wildlife.
This piece may have ended up with orchestral scoring but it began as a humble duet, written for a couple of very capable players, a mother (bassoon) and daughter (oboe).
When I was considering what to write for some trios who wanted music for the society’s music camp, rather than start with new pieces, I created two trio versions. Finally, I created the orchestral and contemporary version (which includes some sound effects and percussion loops).
Download the PDF scores below:
