Sunrise

Sunrise was composed in 2022.

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Duration: 5 minutes, 15 seconds.

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This piece is inspired by Impression, Sunrise painted by Claude Monet in 1874. The painting depicts the port of Le Havre in France at sunrise, shrouded in fog with hazy ships on the harbour and a bright orange sun reflecting on the cool blues of the port.

This painting is often credited as being an early and very important example of the Impressionist movement in the art world, with the movement even taking its name from the title of this painting.

This piece utilises techniques associated with the Impressionist movement in music, such as a focus on beauty and light, harmony focussed on sonority and tone colours rather than function, and the use of modal harmony. The use of Impressionist techniques in the music highlights the importance of this painting to the Impressionist movement in art.

Sunrise is split into six short sections - I. Midnight, II. Dawn, III. Twilight, IV. Sunrise,
V. Morning, and VI. Midday. Each section flows into the next with no clear point of change,
which reflects the gradual rise of the sun over a 12 hour period. Each section utilises a change in mode and register, beginning with an extreme low register and dark mode to represent midnight before travelling through the registers and modes to reach an extreme high register and light mode to represent midday. 

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Performances:

Isobel Cumpston, June 4, 2022. Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Sydney, Australia. International Premiere.

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Price: $45

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