WOODWIND | BRASS | PERCUSSION | STRINGS
Still
(2020)
Clarinet in Bb and piano
Duration: 5:30 minutes
Commissioned by Australia Ensemble for David Griffiths and Ian Munro.
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Performance Watch the Australia Ensemble perform Still – with interviews with performers and composer.
UndercurrenT
(2011)
Soprano Saxophone + Piano
Duration: 11:40 minutes
Appears on HD Duo’s disc Incandescence (Tall Poppies Records) Commissioned by HD Duo.
UndercurrenT II is an arrangement for trumpet, trombone and electric guitar.
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Valentine
(2011)
Flute + Piano
Duration: 7:30 minutes
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Music for Demons
(2010)
Flutes/s, Bass Clarinet in Bb + Piano
Duration: 8 minutes
This work is a companion piece for Making Angels (2001)
This piece is based on a painting by Matthew Quick from his Pure Series titled Pure Obsession where digital looking space-invaders descend from the clouds.
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From the program of the premiere of Music for Demons.
Alcoholism, Chocoholism, Overeating, Bulimia, Sex Addiction, Drug Addiction, Kleptomania, Excessive Excercies, Caffine Cravings, Cigarettes, Gambling, Shoe Shopping, High-adrenalin sports, Self-help Books, Video Games – we human beings struggle each day with a colourful and voluminous number of addictions, some rather innocent, others highly dangerous – inner demons we must all do battle with.
Katy Abbott’s Music for Demons, written for Syzygy Ensemble as a companion piece to Making Angels, comments upon the ability of human nature to become easily obsessed, with a particular focus on the mesmerising pull of computer games. Playing video games can be a very hypnotic activity and without any obvious break in the pathways of the game, the player can feel persuaded to continue, often well into the night, torn between stopping and continuing play. Consciously choosing to stop playing becomes difficult.
Abbott has created musical pathways in Music for Demons to reflect this theme, particularly in the quirky dance-like section towards the end, which draws the listener in by the seemingly repetitive patterns, with no real way of knowing when the end is in sight.
Coady Green, 2010
MultiSonics!
(2010)
Solo Bassoon
Duration: 10 minutes
Composed for Mark Gaydon (bassoon). Also available for saxophone.
Advanced level.
Appears on Sunburnt Aftertones: The Chamber Music of Katy Abbott.
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Making Angels
(2001)
Flute + Clarinet in Bb + Piano
Duration: 7 minutes
This work has a companion piece: Music for Demons (2010).
Also available for piano trio.
Appears on Sunburnt Aftertones: The Chamber Music of Katy Abbott
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Performance at 28:19 by Juventus New Music Ensemble
Egyptian Wish
(2001)
Soprano Saxophone Trio
Duration: 7 minutes
Also available for Solo Soprano Saxophone and CD.
Appears on Sunburnt Aftertones: The Chamber Music of Katy Abbott.
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Autumn Song
(1996/rev.2001)
Saxophone + Piano (+ other arr)
Duration: 4 minutes
AMEB Alto Saxophone Grade 5 List.
Also available for most woodwind, brass and string instruments.
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Fanfare for the Melancholy
(2021)
Brass Ensemble
Duration: 3:45 minutes
Facing Forward
(2020)
Trumpet in Bb + Piano
Duration: 4 minutes
Suitable for Upper Level High School and University Level students, Facing Forward was commissioned by Naomi and Simon Miller for their son Hugo, on the occasion of his sixteenth birthday; to acknowledge Hugo’s love and enjoyment of music through its creation.
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UndercurrenT II
(2017)
Trumpet in Bb + Trombone + Electric Guitar
Duration: 10 minutes
Original version, for Soprano Saxophone + Piano was commissioned by HD Duo with University of Sydney.
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Cross Sections
(2014)
Brass Ensemble + Solo Trumpet + Trombone
Duration: 16 minutes
Premiere: Sydney International Festival of Brass and MCM Brass Ensemble Tour to China in 2014.
This work is in three movements: Cross Section I, II and III. It is suitable for tertiary brass ensemble with advanced players on the solo trumpet and trombone lines. The commission was to feature Assoc Prof Joel Brennan (trumpet) with Prof Don Immel (trombone) as soloists whilst giving both students and teachers that chance to musically interact, to create stronger human and musical connections through the score.
‘Cross Section II’ uses the composer’s Nespresso Coffee Machine daily habit as a launching point for the textural drone in the haunting second movement.
Appears on Punch: The Brass Music of Katy Abbott.
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Midnight Songs
(2013)
Flugel Horn, Trombone, Guitar + Loop pedals and Delay
Duration: 25-30 minutes
Premiered in China September 2013.
Note: guitar can be on acoustic or electric guitar.
Appears on Punch: The Brass Music of Katy Abbott.
Recorded on Ensemble Three’s debut disc Midnight Songs (Tall Poppies).
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Commissioned by Don Immel and Melbourne Conservatorium of Music
Sister work for Fanfare for the Melancholy (2021)
Purchase Punch: The Brass Music of Katy Abbott on CD
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Echoes of Another Age
(2001)
Tuba and Piano
Duration: 5 minutes
Composed for Per Forsberg (tuba).
Also available for bass trombone and piano.
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Whirl
(2023)
Solo Snare Drum
Duration: 5 minutes
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‘Taking Chances’ from Hidden Thoughts I: Do I Matter?
(2017)
Solo Percussion (2 hi-hats + crotales)
Duration: 2 minutes
This work, for solo player (2 hi-hats + crotales) is the opening movement of Hidden Thoughts I: Do I Matter?, winner of the 2019 Paul Lowin Prize for Composition (song-cycle).
The movement aims to be a palette cleanser for the audience as they settle in to the one-hour performance comprising of hidden thoughts.
Also available as a percussion quartet work (arr Eric Wilie, USA).
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‘Taking Chances’ from Hidden Thoughts I: Do I Matter?
(2017/arr. 2020, Eric Wilie)
Percussion Quartet
Duration: 2 minutes
Premiered at PASIC 2021: Percussion Arts Society International Convention, Indianapolis.
This work, originally for solo player (2 hi-hats + crotales) is the opening movement of Hidden Thoughts I: Do I Matter?, winner of the 2019 Paul Lowin Prize for Composition.
This arrangement could act as a ‘palette cleanser’ being fresh and short, yet is also a vibrant and energetic concert opener/closer.
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Recorded and arranged by UNC Greensboro (Eric Willie, Director).
Composed and arranged for Claire Edwardes (pc) and Julian Smiles (cello).
It also appears as a recording on Kammerbox (ABC Classics)
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Interview with Katy Abbott on Re-Echo being chosen as one of three Australian pieces to be presented to the 2016 International Rostrum of Composers in Wroclaw, Poland.
Performance of Re-Echo by Claire Edwardes (vibraphone) and Blair Harris (cello)
Glacial Thunder
(2024)
String Orchestra
Duration: 8:00 minutes
Glacial Thunder was composed for and commissioned by Melbourne Chamber Orchestra for the opening of their 2024 Season, Music Speaks.
Glacial Thunder aims to pick up on the nuances of resonance in regards to communication; through playful gestures and ensemble “stillness”. Without any direct or specific narrative, the work “plays” with ideas and illuminates the interaction and communication between the musicians and also the composer-orchestra-audience dynamic.
Dedicated to Heather Rowell on the occasion of her 80th birthday.
“Striking, gestural, and crunchy at times… tightly packed melodies and interlocking rhythms ricocheted around the ensemble, morphing into catchy thematic fragments… demonstrating Abbott’s skill in being able to challenge both performer and listener without straying into esotericism.
It was an electric – and thoughtful – choice to kick off MCO’s first concert of the season.”
Lily Begg, Limelight Magazine, March 1, 2024.
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(coming soon)
Earth Lullaby
(2017)
Shakuhachi + String Quartet
Duration: 10 minutes
Commissioned by and composed for Enigma Quartet + Riley Lee.
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Culturally, we have lost the art of trusting our intuition as individuals or a group. This piece requires the musicians to trust their own instincts as well as each other’s sense of musicality. It requires trust ideally with one instrument not being more ‘present’ than another.
The musical and human elements must interlock in order to function fully.
Our environment – the Earth, is a most wonderful role model.
Music for Demons
(2010)
Piano Trio
Duration: 8 minutes
Piano Trio arrangement by Tim Dargaville.
This work is a companion piece for Making Angels (2001).
This piece is based on a painting by Matthew Quick from his Pure Series titled Pure Obsession where digital looking space-invaders descend from the clouds.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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From the program of the premiere of Music for Demons.
Alcoholism, Chocoholism, Overeating, Bulimia, Sex Addiction, Drug Addiction, Kleptomania, Excessive Excercies, Caffine Cravings, Cigarettes, Gambling, Shoe Shopping, High-adrenalin sports, Self-help Books, Video Games – we human beings struggle each day with a colourful and voluminous number of addictions, some rather innocent, others highly dangerous – inner demons we must all do battle with.
Katy Abbott’s Music for Demons, written for Syzygy Ensemble as a companion piece to Making Angels, comments upon the ability of human nature to become easily obsessed, with a particular focus on the mesmerising pull of computer games. Playing video games can be a very hypnotic activity and without any obvious break in the pathways of the game, the player can feel persuaded to continue, often well into the night, torn between stopping and continuing play. Consciously choosing to stop playing becomes difficult.
Abbott has created musical pathways in Music for Demons to reflect this theme, particularly in the quirky dance-like section towards the end, which draws the listener in by the seemingly repetitive patterns, with no real way of knowing when the end is in sight.
Coady Green, 2010
The Empty Quarter
(2008)
Percussion Duo + Cello
Duration: 15 minutes
Appears on Sunburnt Aftertones: The Chamber Music of Katy Abbott.
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It Is Just The Heart
(2006)
Song Cycle for Soprano + String Quartet
Duration: 25 minutes
Text: Various + Katy Abbott.
It Is Just The Heart is a song-cycle in four Movements where each movement is inspired by the composer’s experience at four different Melbourne Institutions:
I: The Immigration Museum (‘Hinta Palinta’)
II: The Melbourne Museum (‘Dinosaur’)
III: The Cunningham Dax Collection (‘It Is Just The Heart’)
IV: The Melbourne Planetarium (‘Night Thoughts’)
“I wanted to capture the ‘human’ element of each collection. Buildings and museums hold ‘things’; evidence of human interaction, innovation and feeling. I like to think of these places as a depiction / portrayal of our humanity. I have chosen the title to represent an emotional and human aspect of each institution.”
Katy Abbott.
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Sunburnt Aftertones
(2001/rev.2010)
Mixed Sextet
Duration: 5 minutes
Composed for Zurich Ensemble of New Music, ANAM young composers seminar.
Appears on Sunburnt Aftertones: The Chamber Music of Katy Abbott.
Representing the intense and sometimes unrelenting heat of the Australian Summer, Sunburnt Aftertones was composed as a commission for the Dorian Le Gallienne Prize for Composition 2001.
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Making Angels
(2001)
Piano Trio
Duration: 7 minutes
This work has a companion piece: Music for Demons (2010).
The original version of Making Angels is for Flute, Clarinet in Bb and Piano.
Appears on Sunburnt Aftertones: The Chamber Music of Katy Abbott.
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Please contact me for Score and Parts.
Vertical Horizon
(2000)
String Quartet
Duration: 9:45 minutes
Segments of Vertical Horizon were used in a 2020 reimagining for the Flinders Quartet 20th Birthday Commission Hidden Thoughts II: Return To Sender.
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