Category Archives: Catalogue of Works

Catalogue of Works, String Works

technologic 1-2 (1998)

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for string orchestra and 1 percussion

duration: 8 minutes

Faber Music publishing details

Audio Excerpt:

Programme Notes

technologic 1-2 is so named as it comes from the first two movements of technologic, a work written for the Elektra String Quartet. This version has been rearranged for string orchestra with percussion.

The first movement of technologic 1-2 takes as its starting point the sound of the didjeridu. This effect requires the solo cellist to bow very heavily and forcefully across the strings, with the drone-like material gradually becoming interrupted by increasing numbers of interjections. The rest of the string orchestra acts much like a form of artificial reverberation, extending the material played first by the solo cello.

The second movement of technologic 1-2 is based on the characteristics of techno music, including an exuberant and rhythmically vibrant character. Based upon a constant percussion click-track, the string players weave intricate and interlocking patterns of material, working in sync to achieve the overall effect.

notes by Matthew Hindson.

CD Recording Available?

      This work is recorded on the disc

Matthew Hindson: String Music for Young Players

    . This disc is available free of charge by contacting the composer.

Other Information

This piece is challenging for a good high school orchestra – but certainly rewarding and students enjoy the piece and performing it.

The percussion in this piece requires two xylophones – however, the percussion part can be played on two other matched percussion instruments, such as two woodblocks or two claves. The piece has been played in its original version for string quartet with Aboriginal clapping sticks.

If there is no percussionist available, a CD recording of the percussion part is available for hire through Faber Music.

There are extensive notes on the second movement of this piece in the composers’ Ph.D. exegesis, which can be found on this site.

The second movement of technologic 1-2 was featured in the dance piece Ellipse, choreographed for the Sydney Dance Company by Graeme Murphy in 2002.

Catalogue of Works, Chamber Works, New Composition News, String Works

Lullaby (2003)

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for string orchestra

duration: 4 minutes

Faber Music publishing details

Audio Excerpt: performed by MLC School Chamber Orchestra

Programme Notes

At the end of 2002 I was at my Aunt and Uncle’s farm near Bathurst, NSW, supposedly writing my Ph.D. exegesis. However, as sometimes happens, a certain melody entered my head and refused to leave. I felt that it had the character of a father singing a soft song to a young child, and the result is this pastoral piece, Lullaby.

Lullaby was premiered in Wales at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival in 2003 by a massed group of local young string players.

notes by Matthew Hindson.

CD Recording Available?

      This work is recorded on the disc

Matthew Hindson: String Music for Young Players

    . This disc is available free of charge by contacting the composer.

Other Information

This piece is not difficult for a high school string orchestra.

Catalogue of Works, Chamber Works, String Works

FourScore (1992)

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for four violins

duration: 3-4 minutes

Faber Music publishing details

Audio Excerpt

Programme Notes

FourScore was written in 1992 specifically for the Geelong Orchestral Composers Competition,
where it was the winning work. As an ex-string player I wanted to write an energetic and up-tempo work based upon motor-type rhythms that would be both challenging and fun to play – it has been described as containing “the energy and beauty of Vivaldi, but in a twentieth century idiom.”

FourScore follows a largely ternary (three-part ABA) structure, with the opening material returning at its conclusion, altered for reasons of contrast.

notes by Matthew Hindson.

CD Recording Available?

      This work is recorded on the disc

Matthew Hindson: String Music for Young Players

    . This disc is available free of charge by contacting the composer.

Other Information

This piece is a suitable work for performance as part of the NSW Higher School Certificate Music Examination.

Catalogue of Works, Chamber Works, String Works

Baroquerie (2002)

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for baroque violin and harpsichord

duration: 16 minutes (3 movements)

Faber Music publishing details


coming soon: a version for violin and piano

Audio Excerpt

Excerpt from the first movement:

Programme Notes

One observation on music of the Baroque period, particularly that of the Italian style, is that much of it is concerned with a kind of “happy virtuosity”. Works such as Vivaldi concertos or fast movements of Handel oratorios are examples of this. In contrast, joyful exuberance in contemporary classical music may be frowned upon in some circles, an attitude that I find slightly puzzling. After all, it seems to me that we have a lot to be happy about.

In Baroquerie, I have made reference to selected musical characteristics of baroque period, including the notion of “happy virtuosity”, and then have attempted to absorb them into my own musical style. The three movements each have their own character. The first movement is loosely cast as a Recitative and Aria. The second movement alternates between improvisatory solos for the two instruments and a melody above a gradually expanding ground bass. The third movement uses specific musical techniques from the baroque era, such as cycles of fifths, in a loose interpretation of ritornello form. The end result shouldn’t be listened to as a piece of baroque music, but rather, a work of contemporary music that may or may not contain some derivations.

It may interest some listeners to know that another of the initial ideas behind this piece was to integrate aspects of rock music into the work (i.e. Ba-Rock-ery). I found this very difficult, particularly taking into account the instrumentation of the work. Whilst this idea didn’t really eventuate in a substantial way, traces of this initial inspiration may be seen in some of the rhythmic figures in the second movement (soft rock guitar-type figurations in the harpsichord) and the virtuosic and overflowing nature of the last movement (volcanic rock).

notes by Matthew Hindson.

CD Recording Available?

    Not at present.

Other Information
Ian Potter logo
Commissioned by Musica Viva Australia for Andrew Manze and Richard Egarr with the financial assistance of the Ian Potter Foundation.

This piece will also become Violin Concerto No. 2 when time permits.

Each of the movements in this piece are suitable for performance as part of the mandatory topic for the NSW Higher School Certificate Examinations in Music 2.

Catalogue of Works, Chamber Works, String Works

Always on Time (2001)

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for violin and cello

duration: 2 minutes

Faber Music publishing details

Audio Excerpt

Programme Notes

Commissioned by Musica Viva Australia on behalf of Sun Microsystems (Aust.)

Always on Time was written in early 2001 as a tribute piece to Russell Bate, the retiring managing director of Sun Microsystems in Australia. A group of five composers was approached to each write a short piece (1-2 minutes) that outlined some aspect of Russell Bate’s personality. The model for the idea behind this commission was a group of works in the mode of Hindemith’s Kammermusik no. 1., op. 24 no 1 (Very Fast and Wild).

Always on Time was based on the personal qualities of perseverance and puncuality, attributed to Mr. Bate. Hence there is a lot of striving towards a goal in the work.

This piece was composed whilst I was composer-in-residence at the Peggy Glanville-Hicks House, Paddington.

notes by Matthew Hindson.

CD Recording Available?

    Not at present.

Other Information

Score and parts to this work are available through Faber Music, sheetmusicplus.com or through Zephyr Music in Australia.