The Melbourne Digital Concert Hall is an initiative by Chris Howlett and Adele Schonhardt created to provide an alternative platform for artists in the wake of COVID 19 lockdown. This concert was broadcast on 29 May 2020 from the Athenaeum Hall in Melbourne.

Programme: 

0:00 Three Spaces (Chindamo)

A three-movement minimalist work, depicting the state of suspense and apprehension, through the use of line lines and repeated figures. 

10:38 Nine Lives of La Folia (Chindamo)

Nine Lives of La Folia is a contemporary suite of 9 short movements based on a 16th-century harmonic sequence called La Folia: a sort-of 12 Bar Blues of its day, which served as a compositional template for countless composers, including Corelli, Vivaldi, Rachmaninov. 

 23:24 Lascia Ch’io Pianga (Chindamo after Handel)

A reimagining of Handel’s beautiful aria with a newly composed variation based on the harmonic fabric of the original.

28:46 Spiegelhaus (Chindamo)

Spiegelhaus is a mad burlesque, passionately restless whirlwind of a piece evoking cascading Fellini-esque images of the wonderfully bizarre. These complex harmonies and juxtaposition of rhythms create a multi-layered tapestry of sound. The fantastical flights are continuously countered by brooding sonorities, creating an exquisite dance of contrasting moods

39:14 Dido’s Lament (Chindamo after Purcell)

Dido’s Lament (“When I am laid in earth”) is the famous aria from the opera Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell. The melody of the original aria in this reworking is kept intact and whilst the original harmonies are alluded to, the harmonic language has been expanded and altered quite markedly. In addition, a new variation based on the aria’s form, composed for the violin, follows the first statement of the melody. The variation remains faithful to Purcell’s Baroque aesthetic but pushes the limits oftonality so that its excruciatingly beautiful dissonances express Dido’s romantic agony.

46:12 Reverie (Chindamo)

An interlude in the Irish style. 

51:19 Tarantism (Chindamo)

Tarantism is Joe’s ode to his Italian heritage. In memory of his late Calabrian dad, who used to dance the Tarantella, Tarantism evokes the spirit of southern Italy, using the sophisticated harmonies from 20th-century music. Tarantism means, the urge to cure melancholy by dancing.