composer

Knehans, Douglas

Though first known through his collaboration with director Barrie Kosky in the Opera Australia production of his The Ascension of Robert Flau (1990), Douglas Knehans (b. 1957) is perhaps best ...

related works

Black City : Concerto for violoncello and orchestra Nº 2 / Douglas Knehans

Genre: Orchestra
Subgenre: Orchestra
Scoring: vc-solo dulc pf hp sopr(offstage) 2fl(picc) 2ob 2cl 2fg(cfg) 4h 2tpt 2trb-t trb-b tb timp 3perc str

Fetus' Voyage : for orchestra / Sander Germanus

Genre: Orchestra
Subgenre: Orchestra
Scoring: 2fl 2ob 2cl 2sax-a fg fg-c 4h 2trp 2trb perc str

Windows : for orchestra, 1996 / Jan Rokus van Roosendael

Genre: Orchestra
Subgenre: Orchestra
Scoring: 2fl 2ob 2cl 2fg 2h 2trp 2trb 3perc hp pf str

Oneway Ticket : for orchestra / Chiel Meijering

Genre: Orchestra
Subgenre: Orchestra

 

composition

Unfinished Earth : Symphony Nº 3 for large orchestra / Douglas Knehans

Publisher's number: 21311
Genre: Orchestra
Subgenre: Orchestra
Scoring: picc 2fl 2ob eh 2cl cl-b 2fg cfg 4h 4tpt 2trb-t trb-b tb timp 3perc pf hp str
Remarks: Dedicated to Maestro Mark Gibson and the CCM Philharmonia.
Duration: 33'00"
Year of composition: 2015
Status: fully digitized (real-time delivery)

Description:
Unfinished Earth is my third symphony. The three movements all refer to large geological motions of earth and sea, yet, like most of my recent work, also use such natural phenomena to analogously point to the the large internal landscapes of the human heart and experience.
The first movement, Tempering, refers to the formation of earth’s structure and surface but likewise is also about the structural interplay between individual and group. This plays out in a number of ways: the offstage trumpet solos throughout the movement act as a kind of call of the distant heart to which we all seek to listen and follow; the convention of pitched and even tonally centric music that collides and twists to microtonal music of expressive inflection; and finally the overall timbral expression of this music that is thick and powerful.
The second movement Eternal Ocean is referential to the many currents of human emotions as reflected, perhaps, in the many different speeds and tidal currents of colorful, tumultuous and vast, open ocean. The final movement Tearing Drift refers externally to continental drift and how parts of continents shift or break off—this shifting and breaking off is a type of sectionalized structural approach I have adopted in this movement. But further, and again, this music is about the internal life of human experience and how life experience acts on us like a type of continental drift that repositions our attitudes over time and in relation to our life experience.
This work was written for my son Joshua who is learning the French horn and the reason why this instrument features rather prominently throughout this work—I wanted to show him the power and beauty of this fantastic instrument within an orchestral context. The piece is dedicated to Maestro Mark Gibson and the CCM Philharmonia.
Douglas Knehans, 2015

Sheet Music
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Product Description Price/piece Count
Score Download to Newzik (A3), 78 pages EUR 43.93
Download as PDF (A3), 78 pages EUR 52.71
Hardcopy, normal size (A3), 78 pages EUR 87.86
Hardcopy, study size (A4), 78 pages EUR 59.24