Peter McNamara's percussion concerto The Styx, written for solo percussionist and chamber orchestra. Originally premiered by Claire Edwardes and Kammerklang in 2009. [Digital download score]
Cover Art by Luke Moseley.
Includes unlimited streaming of The Styx (Peter McNamara)
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
ships out within 1 day
$30AUDor more
about
Vitality’s Circuit Grind is a sonic realisation of the shackled routine that modern society follows daily. The monotonous drone of everyday living is disguised by materialistic desires, which in turn create a continuous noise that distracts the crowd from the truth;
we are ensnared by our dull existence.
There are those who see reality for what it is, but become jaded over time and relinquish their resolve. Others get sucked into the vortex, never to be seen again.
Lucy Kong (nee Yeoman) was born in Sydney and began her foray into the composing world at age 8, after encouragement from her piano school. Her interest in composition grew during her high school years and as a result she decided to further her studies by successfully applying for an undergraduate position at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 2006. After four years of study and and three scholarships later, she graduated with a Bachelor of Music Composition, 1st class Honours in 2010.
While maintaining her interest in art music since leaving the Con she has composed for a variety of different mediums. During her last year of study in 2009 she gained her first experience in commercial composition by scoring music for the Father Chris Riley’s Youth Off the Streets advertisement which was screened on all of the major television networks. In addition to this she took home the Best Score Award for her film score in Sydney’s 2009 48 Hour Film Festival. In 2010 her interest in Computer Music led to her to be a featured composer in Kammerklang, an art music concert where her electroacoustic piece 'Vitalities Circuit Grind' was performed.
In the last two years of her life she has been working as a song writer in the pop music industry. She took a small break from this in 2012 to compose a solo piano piece for the metal/rock/trance band 'Germ' featured on their most current EP 'Loss'.
lyrics
Poem by Patrick Davies O’Sullivan
Rutted in the daily grind.
A comfortable schedule for some, a cage though
to my mind.
Two weeks of annual leave and weekend release
is small sympathy to slave on the 7.30 bus and
the 8 o’clock train — sardine tin commuter, then
locked for the day in front of a computer.
Harsh beat the whips of fluorescent bulb glow
upon eyes sorely dried by the steady blow of an
air conditioner that labours all day.
For 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, this happens;
and more, is expected of all in a city or town in
an urban society. Is this the lure of sophistication?
If a body doesn’t follow suit and subscribe they
can’t survive, and are swept under the rug, killed
— executed, in this overcrowded gaol to make
room for a more productive prisoner.
Yet people still crave the outside, so the soma of
Hollywood kicks in, shows blockbuster movies to
thrill and excite, so the inmates sleep satisfied of
their bodily lusts at night.
And this makes the mass mindless and dream
mediocre dreams, able to be fulfilled in the
penitentiary, other spirits still flap feebly for a
taste of real living but are impotent in this cage,
like an eagle with clipped wings, unable to escape
until old age and habit accept the bars.
Once-pure hearts are seduced and corrupted just
to make a quick buck.
Capitalist punishment; selfishness indoctrinated
from the first, to mould young minds that the
whole point in life is to live for a profit.
The meaning to life, now the question is
answered, keep up with the trends and own the
best new gadgets; rampant consumerism gives
a wanderer direction, while disposable cash and
food go make a home just a house because it’s just
another fashion.
These are the manacles, the manacles we put on
ourselves; lucky to be safe in the asylum, from
disease and hunger and struggle and things
that just want to eat you. We lock ourselves up
because the real world is hell.
credits
from Kammerklang: Alpha,
released January 29, 2013
Composer: Lucy Kong
Lyricist: Patrick Davies O'Sullivan
Solo Soprano: Alison Morgan
Solo Mezzo Soprano: Jenny Duck-Chong
Sound Engineer: Lucy Kong
Kammerklang (German for “Chamber sound”) is an Australian arts company specialising in the collaboration of music and other
artforms, focusing on the fusion of sound and the “chamber” or space it’s performed in. The aim of Kammerklang is to present and promote new artistic creation that is inquisitive, detailed and accessible while still fostering exploration and communication between the arts....more
Decades of political activism are funneled into a fusion of traditional Southern African music, free jazz, and avant-garde composition. Bandcamp Album of the Day Apr 24, 2024
Former member of Fela Kuti’s Egypt 80 unveils a rich, swinging new record that pulls from jazz and soul in its high-wattage songs. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 24, 2024
Explore ambient music from across the globe in drifting and soothing songs on the new compilation from Electric Shapes. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 24, 2024
Produced on the MPC1000, “Nosthaigia” documents time spent in Thailand via regional music. Available here in an exclusive color vinyl. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 24, 2024
