Cradle Mountain Suite

The Cradle Mountain Suite is inspired by the history, terrain and peoples of the Cradle Mountain Lake-St Clair National Park in Tasmania. The opening four bars set a mood of stillness evoking the landscape during the last ice age around 10,000 years ago. As the ice melted Tasmania became separated from mainland Australia, giving rise to unique native flora and fauna such as the Tasmanian Devil. The broad spacious landscape is depicted with parallel major chords and the animals with short repetitive rhythmic motifs. The tracery of pathways used to this day by tourists and hikers were predominantly carved into the countryside by the indigenous people, represented by the walking cello pizzicato. The arrival of European settlement led to the death by disease and open hostilities between the new settlers and indigenous people, leading to the almost complete disappearance of the latter within a 30 year period.
This violence and sorrow is set out as a lament between the first and second violins accompanied by didgeridoo-like drones on the cello and the repetitive "message stick" Eb viola pizzicato motif. Successful European settlement is referenced by a short and simple bucolic country-fair like movement, where the instruments barely hear each other but nonetheless express their joy in the day and the beauty of the landscape. The final section evokes again the broad and spacious terrain, with the Eb viola message stick pizzicato around which the remaining instruments eventually achieve harmonic and spiritual reconciliation.

Dorian Quolls is one of a number of compositions inspired by a visit to the Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park in February 2008. It is, as the name suggests, a short humorous piece written in the Dorian Mode and based on observations of the nimble and elusive movements of this marsupial. The descending viola motif in the opening bars moves into a short repeated phrase mimicking the appearance and disappearance of the quoll within the landscape. The cello provides a steady drone-like phrase, while the repeated rhythmic motif on first and second violins sets the context of the broader landscape and fauna.

Recent performances of Annette K Golden's works.

Counterparts concert, 22 June 2008, presented by chronology arts and the Fellowship of Australian Composers (FAC). Chronology arts was formed in 2007 to present and promote new Australian music, and Counterparts was the second concert for 2008, predominantly featuring string quartets by composers from the FAC. The FAC was founded in 1959 as a body to support and unite Australian composers.

On 17th June, 2RRR, 88.5 FM, Arts and Tarts presenter Maggie Mason, interviewed Annette K Golden as special guest composer and included a recorded performance of Cradle Mountain Suite and Dorian Quolls.