Rosalind Carlson

Waterfall in Spring for flute and piano

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Chamber Music / Instrumental Music / Woodwind - Flute and Piano

"Waterfall in Spring", an Australian Fantaisie for Flute and Piano - 1997 - duration approx. 9 minutes

To download the first two pages of this music as a PDF document, select this link --> waterfall_in_spring.pdf
To listen to the first two pages of this music, download and play this MP3 audio file --> waterfall_in_spring.mp3
(to download the above files, you may need to right-click on the links and select "Save Target As...")

The waterfall being described by the Australian composer Rosalind Carlson in this ensemble chamber work for flute and piano is to be found on the northern side of the Galston Gorge. This gorge is approximately 32 kilometres north of Sydney, NSW Australia, and close to where Rosalind lives.

The gorge itself is most scenic being full of native Australian bush flowers. Its road containing many hairpin bends, winds down the steep slopes linking the rural suburb of Galston to Hornsby.

The local residents refer to this naturally formed waterfall as "'The Waterfall". It flows into the upper reaches of the Berowra Creek.

Historically

Road construction through the Galston Gorge was carried out by unemployed men during the 1890's when the colony was severely hit by an economic depression. The two bridges at the bottom of the gorge were completed in 1891. The road was completed in 1893, but not fenced. Transport on this road was by horse and dray. Drinking troughs for the horses were an important feature of the Galston Road, through the gorge. Four of these were spring fed and always full of cool water, a fifth trough located near the bridges was provided with a hand pump to lift the water from the Berowra Creek below.

During the 1970's Rosalind became very much aware of the seasonal changes and activities of this beautiful cascading Galston Gorge waterfall as she passed it daily for six years on her way to teach at Hornsby Girls' High School. Here she was the Administrative Mistress in Charge of Music. (1973 - 1978).

Inspiration for the flute part came to Rosalind in 1992. Her intent was to write a composition for her flautist daughter, Rosemary to perform. Rosalind originally conceived this work for solo flute. She heard the solo flute wafting in the Galston Gorge. At a later date, Rosalind wrote the atmospheric and at times somewhat stark piano part. This piano part has its own descriptive character one truly reflecting Australia's austere atmosphere, as well as images of the waterfall itself.

The delightful flute melody outlines the fall of the water, the splashing, the tumbling, the water droplets and dance-like figures. These are contrasted with some magical moments throughout. An energetic and most descriptive flute cadenza leads into the return of the opening section. This concludes with a brief coda. The work was finally completed in January 1997.

Its world premiere performance was given by Christine Draeger (flute) and Kathryn Lambert (piano), on the 29th September 1997 at the Third Australian Women's Music Festival in Sydney.

Awards and Honours

In 1998, Rosalind received notification from the Fellowship of Australian Composers that her ensemble work "Waterfall in Spring" had been selected by the Asian Composers' League Festival Selection Committee for performance in their seven-day Music Festival to be held in Taipei, Taiwan in September. This is a great honour for Rosalind as only three compositions were selected from Australian composers out of a total of 56 works to be performed.

Also in 1998, "Waterfall in Spring" won first place in the Gold Coast Annual Composers' Competition. Entries for this competition came from all over Australia. Adjudicator Betty Beath said that this sensitive, expressive and subtle work was haunting and that the composition had a recognisably "Australian" sound.

Performances

Given its world premiere performance in Sydney in September 1997 at the Third Australian Women's Music Festival, the performance was recorded "live" by the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) and broadcast regularly on ABC Classic FM Radio.

In Adelaide on 26th October 2002 at the Gala Flute Recital celebrating the Flute Society's 30th birthday at the University of Adelaide (Elder Hall) performed by Janet Webb (Flute) and Jocelyn Fazzone (piano).

In Sydney on 15th November 2002 at the Eugene Goossens Hall in Ultimo Sydney. This was a live broadcast on ABC Classic FM "Friday Recital in Sydney" introduced by Marion Arnold. The performers were Janet Webb (Flute) and Jocelyn Fazzone (piano). This took place in the presence of the composer. This program was recorded by the ABC and subsequently has been broadcast on ABC Classic FM many times since.

This work has been performed in London on numerous occasions, for example:

It has the honour of being performed on the concert program celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Australian Music Centre at the Australian High Commission in London. This took place on the 17th December 1999. It was performed by the international artists Lewis Mitchell (flute) and Chris Childs (piano). These artists are based in London. Lewis is originally from Adelaide but continued his studies on flute in Prague.
Also at Regent's Hall London in the 2002 brilliant "Australia Day" concert (25th January) given by Lewis Mitchell and Chris Childs.

In the Czech Republic at Hlucin on 30th May 2007 at the First International Flute Music Festival - artists: Lewis Mitchell and Chris Childs.

Live Performances on 25th November 2007 and 18th November 2012 at Mt St Benedict Convent Chapel, Pennant Hills, NSW, Australia. Waterfall in Spring was performed by Stephanie Harrisson (flute) and Carole Handley (piano). The 2012 performance was for the 40th anniversary of the formation of the Carlson Chorale chamber choir (1972) - Waterfall in Spring was included as part of this concert celebration.

Examinations

ANZCA (Australian & New Zealand Cultural Arts Limited) examination board has set Waterfall in Spring in the Classical Flute syllabus - Grade 7, and also in the Modern Flute syllabus - Grade 7.

AMEB (Australian Music Examination Board) has published Waterfall in Spring in the 2013 Series 3 Exam Book of the New Examination Flute Syllabus. Please note that this is a modified version of Waterfall in Spring. It is not the entire composition.

Reviews

Winter 2002 Volume 18.1 - in The Journal of the Flute Society of NSW, a detailed review was published, written by the editor Meldi Arkinstall.

Availability: Music scores and CD available from Flexi-Fingers Publications and the Australian Music Centre - Sydney. See order form.

CDs and Scores are available for viewing at the library of the Australian Music Centre, including the above work. Follow the link below for a complete listing of works by Rosalind Carlson available from the library:

http://www.amcoz.com.au/opac/name.aspx?id=3411

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