for string quartet
duration: 16 minutes
Faber Music publishing details, including online score preview
Audio Excerpt
Programme Notes
String Quartet No. 3: Ngeringa is a homage to the vision, tenacity and enterprise of Australia’s behind-the-scenes cultural leaders – people like Ulrike Klein and Ngeringa Arts, who not only commissioned this piece, but in fact are responsible for the brand-new Ngeringa Cultural Centre, now knows as UKARIA, in the Adelaide Hills.
The work was completed early in 2015 and is comprised of four main sections.
It opens with an aural depiction of the surrounding landscape from Mount Barker, overlooking the current site of the Ngeringa Arts Centre, including before European settlement. Mount Barker is a place of significance to the traditional custodians of the land. One can gain a sense of the ancient from its summit, either looking towards the Adelaide Hills or in the opposite direction across very flat and dry landscapes.
The second section is built around the idea of encroaching ‘civilisation’ and development. This includes new housing developments continually moving forward – which have both positive and negative implications: people need to live somewhere and many choose new suburbs placed within a landscape that has stood there for eons. But this development also means that new facilities are needed: pieces of beauty in amongst urban sprawl.
The third section is based upon “The Idea”: in this case, burgeoning thoughts of creativity and the need for achievement, such as… a new concert hall.
The final section is inspired by notions of construction and realisation – the process of putting an idea into practice and making it a reality – furthermore, making a difference to people’s lives in a constructive, positive way.
Matthew Hindson, 2015
Live stream of Australian String Quartet performance (2020):