Richard Vella    composer

Convergence #1

Date: 1995

Duration: 7:07 minutes

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Convergence #2

Date: 1995

Duration: 8:18 minutes

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Convergence No.1 and No.2 were commissioned by the Sydney Alpha Ensemble and premiered in the Eugene Goosens Hall, at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation building, Sydney, 1995. These works can be played separately or as a set.

 

As their title suggests, both works are based on the meshing together of disparate textures and melodies which at times are uniquely individual in structure, or blended together into a new texture.  Episodic in nature, the works were modeled on the concerto grosso and concertante forms in which various instruments have a soloistic role with the overall effect sounding like an overture. The continual changing textures and instrumentation means that no instrument dominates, although Convergence No. 2 does treat the oboe as a type of ‘home base’ instrument.

 

Harmonically influenced by György Ligeti’s use of slowly expanding intervallic spaces, No.1 begins with various combinations of the major second interval which expands to a minor third space in the concluding viola solo section. No. 2 explores different permutations of the major third intervallic space.

 

The episodic form of these works has been repurposed to other contexts such as various music cues for the film Renzo Piano: piece by piece and an adaptation of the concluding viola solo and texture in No. 1 to become ‘Piano Prelude No. 10’.

 

The live concert recording of the work is from 1995 by the ABC, however, some of the parts in both works were revised in 2021 without changing the overall effect. The instrumental sounds are from the Note Performer library and recorded in Finale.