The first two performances of Lightfall were recorded by ABC Classic FM engineer Andrew Dixon and Ralph Lane. They edited and mixed a version that was broadcast nationally on the ABC on 24 July 2010.
I received a copy some months later and took it it to my regular engineer, Christo Curtis, to give it a further polish.
You can listen below to the result. The Full Score can be downloaded here.
Lightfall for Horn and Orchestra - Part One:
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Lightfall for Horn and Orchestra - Part Two:
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Robert Johnson, horn
Richard Gill, conductor
Sydney Symphony
Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House
9th & 10th September 2009
I did go through the score again and correct the few typos that were discovered during the rehearsals as well as the odd changed dynamic. I removed the mutes on the Trombones in Part One and then marked them down a notch in dynamic; it made for a much smoother crescendo as the piece progressed. This corrected score is available here.
Having heard the concerto in rehearsal, performance and later on the recording, there are three important changes to the score that I would make if the concerto was to get another performance. Read More…
Two years have passed since the premiere and since my last post.
On reading through the entire blog I have discovered a number of the links have broken. So I have resurrected as many of those as I can, leaving one or two dead in the hope that suitable alternatives will become available one day.
It was not until late 2010 that I received the ABC Classic FM’s edited and mixed recording of the performance. You can now listen to the complete concerto here.
They broadcast the entire concert nationally on 24 July 2010.
Lightfall was nominated for Orchestral Work of the Year in the Australian Art Music Awards 2011. This time only the awards covered two years, 2009 and 2010. They were held on 3 May 2011.
The score now sits on the shelf along with its companions waiting for another chance to shine again.
Unfortunately the city’s major newspaper, the Sydney Morning Herald, neglected to review the only new major work to be premiered by the Sydney Symphony in 2009, not to mention the first time Gautier Capuçon, one of the world’s shining new cellists, performed in Sydney.
However, the country’s national newspaper, The Australian, was there and published this review. I reprint the review in full below followed by an Aussie artist’s reply to just criticism.
Read More…
It never rains but it pours. How often does this composer get a premiere? Not often. So how did it come about that I had three world premieres in five days on opposite sides of the world?
• Wednesday 9th Sydney Lightfall - World premiere
• Thursday 10th Sydney Lightfall - Second performance
• Friday 11th Sydney Lightfall - Third performance (11am)
• Friday 11th Toronto Daybreakers - World premiere (11:59pm)
• Sunday 13th Toronto Mao’s Last Dancer - World premiere
• (Monday 21st Sydney Mao’s Last Dancer - Australian premiere)
Read More…
For reasons I will explain in post 43 I was not able to attend the final concert. Robert Gay, very kindly, has written the following for this blog.
Third performance – 11 September 2009, 11am
It is perhaps not a surprise to say that the last performance of a new work is likely to be the best. This was the case at the third performance of Christopher’s new work, which I had commissioned with three friends about eighteen months ago. Lightfall sounded relaxed and confident, and almost like a familiar and established piece from the contemporary repertoire. It was also the fifth time I had heard the work – two rehearsals and three performances – so I am beginning to know it, and to look forward to certain sections and certain effects in this very original ‘concerto for horn and orchestra’. I should also say that I was sitting in a great seat in the centre of the stalls – arguably ‘the best seat in the house’ – much better than the seat I had for the premiere in the front Dress Circle (or whatever it’s called in the Concert Hall), where the sound was generally poor and the subtleties and beauties of the work were less than well served by the hall’s very problematic acoustics.
Read More…
Second performance – 10 September 2009, 6:30pm
After the excitement of the premiere I felt rather weary during the pre-concert talk on night two. However people said it was even better than the first night so there’s a lesson in there somewhere.
Pre-concert Talk 09/09/09
The second performance of Lightfall was also better with the musicians more relaxed and in control. It makes quite a difference to Part Two which despite being fast needs to be unhurried, a groove rather than a race.
Read More…
First performance – 9 September 2009, 6:30pm
They don’t teach you how to bow at composer school. Not that I studied there but I am pretty sure it is not on the curriculum. It’s certainly not something for which I have a natural flair. So I found myself on the concert hall stage at the Sydney Opera House in front of two thousand applauding people wondering where I should put my arms.
Lightfall Premiere: Christopher Gordon, Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson, however, is all style:
Lightfall Premiere: Robert Johnson
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A day in the life…
Final rehearsal this morning. A run through of the entire concert but out of order. First they played through the Dvorak. I am looking forward to the performance this evening as Gautier Capuçon is a very fine player. He has extraordinary projection but with great sensitivity.
Richard Gill (photo: Jeff Busby)
Before the rehearsal I met Andrew Ford who is going to talk to the audience between the pieces. I told him I enjoyed his Symphony which I had recently watched on-line.
Margie Moore, who used to work with the orchestra, came along and gave me a bunch of flowers to sparkle up my day.
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