Fretwork

Djlile, for 5 viols. 1994.

As a schoolboy, I was so excited when I first heard the Lament from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, that I wrote several works inspired by it. I planned to base the present piece, for the Purcell Tercentenary, upon one of these works. Later, however, I decided that the occasion demanded the best possible music that I could write, rather than a return to my early essays as a composer. Djilile, then, is based upon an adaptation of an Aboriginal chant from northern Australia. The title translates as ‘whistling-duck on a billabong.’ The work is a straightforward one, with four statements of the chant separated by brief interludes, and followed by a coda. While it contains elements of the chaconne, or chacony, there is no conscious influence of Purcell upon the music. I do, however, share with Purcell much joy in the sound of a consort of viols.

In writing the work I decided to use scordatura in the bass viol, and to exploit the higher pitches of one of the treble viols. I also decided to bring the work to its conclusion with six-part chords in most of the parts. Djilile is dedicated to Fretwork.

Commissioned by The South Bank Centre. First performed 2nd May 1995, The Purcell Room, London.

Published by Faber Music Ltd. London.