LIZA LIM
Liza Lim (b. 1966, Australia) writes music marked by visceral energy and vibrant colour. A recurring theme in her work is the exploration of the themes of crossing cultural boundaries and of ecstatic transformation. Her music brings together aspects of modernist abstraction with forms of ritual culture drawn from a variety of sources. She counterpoints seemingly opposed pairs of terms such as 'radiance and shadow', 'violence and meditation' to describe her musical language.
Her music, which ranges from operatic and orchestral scores to site-specific installations, has been performed by some of the world's pre-eminent ensembles. Notably, she was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic to write the orchestral work, Ecstatic Architecture, to celebrate the inaugural season of the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2004. She was composer-in-residence with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2005-06.
She has received major commissions from the Bavarian Radio and SWR Orchestras, Ensemble musikFabrik & Holland Festival, Ensemble InterContemporain, Ensemble Modern, the Arditti String Quartet (Milano Musica), Salzburg Festival, Lucerne Festival, Festival d’Automne à Paris, WDR Orchestra & Choir and BBC Symphony.
Recent projects include Tongue of the Invisible, based on the Sufi poetry of Hafez, written for jazz pianist Uri Caine, singer Omar Ebrahim and musikFabrik which was premiered at the 2011 Holland Festival and will be released on CD by WERGO (2012). She collaborated with artist Olaf Nicolai and Neue VocalSolisten Stuttgart on the project Escalier du Chant, for the Pinakothek der Moderne Munich (Sept-Dec 2011). She is currently working on a new opera Tree of Codes (after Jonathan Safran Foer) commissioned by Ensemble musikFabrik and HELLERAU - Europäisches Zentrum der Künste in co-operation with festival partners.
She has been closely associated with the Australian ELISION Ensemble over twenty years, and they have produced some of her larger scale works. These include her chamber operas,The Oresteia (1993), Moon Spirit Feasting (1999) and The Navigator (2008). Her opera The Navigator, directed by Barrie Kosky, had premiere seasons at the 2008 Brisbane and Melbourne Festivals followed by performances at the Chekhov International Theatre Festival in Moscow and at the Festival d’Automne à Paris in 2009.
Lim’s collaborations with Chinese, Japanese and Korean musicians inform her interest in kinaesthetic approaches to performance whereby the physicality of gesture is interrogated as the basis for formulating new approaches to instrumental technique and listening culture. Key publications in this area include three important commissions from the Festival d’Automne à Paris, In the Shadow’s Light (2004), The Quickening (2005) and Mother Tongue (2005).
Her explorations of Australian Aboriginal culture, through research and collaborations with Indigenous artist Judy Watson (Glass House Mountains installation project, 2005) and with Yolngu women elders of the Gumatj clan from Yirrkala, in her role as curator of the music series ‘As Night Softly Falls’ for the 2006 Adelaide Festival, has led her to look at aspects of Indigenous aesthetics and non-western epistemologies of time and space in art, music and story-telling.
Awards include the Paul Lowin Prize for orchestral composition, Fromm Foundation Award, Ian Potter Foundation and Australia Council Senior Composer Fellowships, and DAAD as artist-in-residence, Berlin (2007-08). In 2010, she was a guest lecturer at the Darmstadt Summer School and at Voix Nouvelles, Fondation Royaumont. She studied composition with Riccardo Formosa and Richard David Hames in Melbourne, with Ton de Leeuw in Amsterdam, completed undergraduate studies at the Victorian College of the Arts, MMus at Melbourne University and PhD from the University of Queensland.
She is Professor of Composition and Director of the Centre for Research in New Music at the University of Huddersfield, UK (since 2008) and was appointed a founding member of the Akademie der Künste der Welt in Cologne in 2012. Her work is published by Ricordi (Munich, London and Milano) and on CDs with Hat Art, Neos, WERGO, ABC-Classics and Dischi Ricordi.
RICORDI 2012
WORKS
Prior to 2004 Liza Lim's works were published exclusively by Casa Ricordi, Milano and they are included here.
OPERA
The Oresteia (1991-93)
Memory theatre (opera) in 7 parts after Aeschylus
For 6 voices, 11 instruments and dancer
Libretto by Liza Lim and Barrie Kosky after Aeschylus, Sappho and Tony Harrison
(in English)
soprano, 2 mezzo soprano, counter tenor, tenor, baritone
(mezzo soprano 2 also plays stage ‘cello)
dancer (also vocalising)
Fl/Picc, Ob/Cor Ang, Cl/Bass Cl, Tpt/Picc Tpt, Tbn. Turkish Baglama Saz
(played by mandolinist) Electric Guitar, Perc, Vla/Vla d'amore, Vc, D bass
Duration: 75'
Commissioned by ELISION
Premiere: 16 May 1993, Melbourne, Theatreworks
Elision Ensemble and Treason of Images, conductor Sandro Gorli,
singers: Jeannie van de Velde, Julie Edwardson, Deborah Kayser, Andrew Muscat Clark, Tyrone Landau, Grant Smith, dancer, Shelley Lasica
directed by Barry Kosky, stage designer Peter Corrigan, choreographer Shelley Lasica
Score (136022), Ricordi Milano
Yuè Lìng Jié (Moon Spirit Feasting) (1997-99)
Chinese ritual street opera in 7 parts
For 3 singers, 9 instruments and live electronics
Libretto by Beth Yahp (in English and Chinese)
Characters: Chang-O, soprano
Queen Mother of the West, mezzo soprano (also dances)
Hou Yi/Monkey King, baritone (also dances)
Fl/Picc/Bass Fl, Cl/Bass Cl, Alto Sax/Bar Sax, Tpt/Flugel Hn, 2 Perc, Koto, Er-hu, Vc (all instrumentalists are amplified)
Duration: 75'
Jointly Commissioned by the Adelaide and Melbourne Festivals with support from the Major Festivals Initiative, the Australia Council and Arts Queensland
Premiere: 15 March 2000, Adelaide Festival, Torrens River barge
Elision Ensemble, conductor Simon Hewett,
Singers: Deborah Kayser, Melissa Madden Gray, Orren Tanabe,
Directed by Michael Kantor, stage designer Dorotka Sapinska,
choreographer Melissa Madden Gray
Score (138448) Ricordi Milano
*Scene 6 of the opera, Chang-O Flies to the Moon (1999)
for Soprano, Bass Fl, Koto, Perc, Vc, can be performed separately in concert
Duration: 10'
Premiere: 19 September 1999, Brisbane, Old Museum Brisbane,
Elision Ensemble, conductor Carl Rosman, soprano Deborah Kayser
Ricordi Milano
The Navigator (2007)
Opera in six scenes and a prelude. Libretto by Patricia Sykes
For 5 singers, 16 instrumentalists and electronics
Duration: c 90'
Commissioned by Brisbane Festival, Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, ELISION
Premiere: 29 July 2008, Brisbane Festival, Judith Wright Centre
Singers: Deborah Kayser, Talise Trevigne, Andrew Watts, Omar Ebrahim, Philip Larsen
Elision Ensemble, conductor Manuel Nawri
Directed by Barrie Kosky , stage designer Alice Babidge
Ricordi London
ORCHESTRAL WORKS
(also with instrumental soloists)The Alchemical Wedding (1996)
For chamber orchestra (22 musicians)
2Fl/Picc, 2Ob (2. Cor Ang), Cl eflat, Cl bflat, Bass Cl, Bsn/Cbsn, Alto Sax -
Hn, 2Tpt, Tbn - Perc. Angklung – Hp - Er-hu (Chinese Vln), 2Vln. 3Vc
Duration: 18'
Commissioned by ELISION and Ensemble Modern
Premiere: 30 October 1996 Melbourne, Melbourne International Festival, Elision Ensemble and Ensemble Modern, conductor Dominique My
Score (137517), Ricordi Milano
The Compass (2005-06)
For large orchestra with solo flute & didgeridoo
Flute solo (Picc/Bass Fl); didgeridoo solo (both soloists are amplified)
4Fl (3.4.picc) 3Ob, Cor Ang, Cl eflat, 2 Cl b flat, Bass Cl, 3Bsn, Cbsn-
4Hn, 4Tpt, 4Tbn (4.tenor-bass), Tuba - 3Perc – Piano - Strings
Duration: 25'
Jointly commissioned by Sydney Symphony and Bayerischer Rundfunk
Premiere: 17 May 2006, Sydney Opera House
Sydney Symphony, didgeridoo, William Barton, conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti
Score (RICL058), Ricordi London
Ecstatic Architecture (2001-02)
For large orchestra
Picc. 3Fl (1.Picc, 2.3. Bass Fl), 3 Ob, Cor Ang, 2Cl, 2Bass Cl, 2Bsn, 2 Cbsn –
4 Hn, 3 Tpt, 3 Tbn (1. Alto Tbn), Bass Tbn, Bass Tuba, 3Perc, Harp, Strings.
Duration: 25'
Commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Premiere: 28 May 2004, Los Angeles, Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen
Score (139202), Ricordi Milano
Flying Banner (after Wang To) (2005)
Fanfare for orchestra
2Picc, 1Fl, 2Ob, Cor Ang, Cl eflat, Cl b flat, Bass Cl, 2Bsn, Cbsn-2Hn, Picc Tpt, Tpt, 2Tbn, Bass Tbn – Timp - 1Perc (5 Chinese gongs, 3 wood blocks, 2 temple blocks, high tom-tom)-Strings
Duration: 9'
Commissioned by the Sydney Symphony
Premiere: 8 March 2006, Sydney Opera House
Sydney Symphony conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti
Score (RICL057), Ricordi London
Immer fliessender (2004)
For large orchestra
Picc, 3Pl, 3Ob, Cor Ang, Cl eflat, 3Cl in A, Bass Cl, 3Bsn, Cbsn-
4Hn, 3Tpt, 3Tbn, Bass Tuba - 2Timp, 2Perc – 2Harp - Strings
Duration: 8½'
Commissioned by the Sydney Symphony as a companion piece to Mahler's Ninth Symphony. A project of the orchestra's composer-in-residence programme supported by Symphony Australia with funding from the Australia Council.
Premiere: 18 May 2005, Sydney Opera House
Sydney Symphony conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti.
Score (RICL051), Ricordi London
Machine for Contacting the Dead (1999-2000)
For 27 musicians including 2 soloists (Bass Cl/Cbass Cl & Vc)
Bass Fl/picc, Fl/picc, 2 Ob (2. Cor Ang), 2 Cl in A, Bass Cl/Cbass (soloist), Bsn, Cbsn – Hn, 2 Tpt, Alto Tbn, Trbn, Tuba - 3 Perc – Harp, Piano - 2 Vln, 2 Vla, 2 Vc (1. soloist), D bass
Duration: 38'
Commissioned by the Ensemble Intercontemporain
Premiere: 20 February 2000, Paris, Cité de la Musique,
Ensemble Intercontemporain, Alain Billard (Bass Cl/Cbass Cl),
Pierre Strauch (Violoncello), conductor Jonathan Nott
Score (138702), Ricordi Milano
LARGE ENSEMBLE WORKS
City of Falling Angels (2006)
I. Miranda Visione, 10 minutes
II. The Winged One, 8 minutes
for 12 percussionists
Garden of Earthly Desire (1988-89)
For 11 musicians
Fl/picc, Ob, Cl, Mand, Elec Guitar, Harp, Perc, Vln, Vla, Vc, D Bass
Duration: 26'
Commissioned by ELISION and Handspan Theatre
Premiere: 6 October 1989, Melbourne, Montsalvat Great Hall,
Elision Ensemble, conductor, Christopher Lyndon-Gee
with puppet theatre by Handspan Theatre
Score (135541), Ricordi Milano
Li Shang yin (1993)
For Coloratura Soprano and 15 instruments
Text by Li Shang yin (in Chinese)
Ob, Cor Ang, Bsn, Cbsn, Sop Sax, Hn, slide Tpt, Tbn, Tuba, Harp, Vln, 2 Vla, 2 Vc
Duration: 15'
Commissioned by the Ensemble Intercontemporain
Premiere: 25 February 1994, Paris, Centre G. Pompidou
Ensemble Intercontemporain, soprano Françoise Kubler, conductor James Wood
Score (136298), Ricordi Milano
Mother Tongue (2005)
For Soprano & 15 instruments
Text by Patricia Sykes
Sop, 2 Fl (2nd picc), Ob, Cl, Bass Cl, Alto/Bar Sax, Bsn/C Bsn,
Tpt, Tbn, 1 Perc, 2 Vln, Vla, Vc, D Bass
Duration: 36'
Jointly commissioned by Ensemble Intercontemporain, Festival d'Automne à Paris & ELISION. Poems commissioned by Liza Lim
Premiere 30 November 2005, Paris, Cité de la Musique
Ensemble Intercontemporain, soprano Piia Komsi, conductor Jonathan Nott
Score (RICL055), Ricordi London
Sensorium (2007)
Concert version of Scene 2 of The Navigator.
Text by Patricia Sykes
for soprano, counter-tenor, tenor Ganassi recorder/Paetzold contrabass recorder, viola d'amore, Baroque triple harp
Duration: 12'
Commissioned by Brisbane Festival, Melbourne International Festival of the Arts, ELISION
Premiered by ELISION cond. Simon Hewett, soprano Susan Narucki, countertenor Andrew Watts at MärzMusic Berlinerfestspiele, 09.03.08
Ricordi London
CHAMBER MUSIC/ SMALL ENSEMBLE WORKS
Amulet (1992)
For solo viola
Duration: 7'
Premiere: 26 May 1994, Melbourne, Beckett Theatre, 26 maggio 1994
Jennifer Curl, viola
Score (136483), Ricordi Milano
Anactoria (1998)
For six percussionists
Duration: 15'
Commissioned by Synergy Percussion
Premiere: 19 September 1999, Sydney Opera House, Synergy Percussion
Score (138071), Ricordi Milano
Burning House (1995)
For koto & voice (1 performer)
Text: 3 poems by Izumi Shikibu (in Japanese)
Duration: 12'
Score written in traditional Japanese koto notation
Premiere: 30 June 1996, Lismore, NORPA, Satsuki Odamura
Score (138635), Ricordi Milano
Chang-O (1998)
For baritone and percussion
Text by Li Shang yin (in Chinese)
Duration: 8'
Commissioned by Darmstardt Ferienkurse 1998
Premiere: 22 July 1998, Darmstadt, Orangerie
Kurt Widmer, baritone, Mircea Ardeleanu, percussion
Score (138286), Ricordi Milano
The Four Seasons (after Cy Twombly) (2008)
for solo piano
Duration: c 40'
Commssioned by Ian Potter Foundation, Australia
Premiere: 10 February 2009, Musica Nova, Helsinki
Marilyn Nonken, piano
Ricordi London
Gothic (1995-96)
For 8 solo strings (3Vln, 2Vla, 2Vc, D bass)
Duration: 10'
Commissioned by Australian Chamber Orchestra/ANZ Bank
Premiere: 20 June 1996, Sydney, SCEGGS Hall
Australian Chamber Orchestra, direttore John Harding
Score (137405), Ricordi Milano
The Heart's Ear (1997)
For flute, clarinet, string quartet (2Vln, Vla, Vc)
Duration: 12'
Commissioned by the Australia Ensemble
Premiere: 11 October 1997, Sydney, Clancy Auditorium
Australia Ensemble, conductor Dean Olding
Score (137810), Ricordi Milano
Hell (1992)
For string quartet (2Vln, Vla, Vc)
Duration:10'
Commissioned by Milano Musica
Premiere: 9 June 1992, Milano, Milano Musica, Arditti String Quartet
Score (135889), Ricordi Milano
Inguz (Fertility) (1996)
For clarinet in A and violoncello
Duration: 6'
Premiere: 25 November 1996, Bremen, Bremer Podium Concert
Carl Rosman, clarinet, Rosanne Hunt, violoncello
Score (137626), Ricordi Milano
In the Shadow's Light (2004)
For string quartet (2 Vln, Vla, Vc)
Duration: 26'
Commissioned by Festival d'Automne à Paris
Premiere 29 November 2005, Paris, Cité de la Musique, Kairos Quartett
Score(RICL053), Ricordi London
Koto (1993)
For 8 musicians
Fl/picc, Ob.d'amore, Flugel horn, Koto, Vla, 2Vc, Perc
Duration: 12'
Premiere: 29 July 1994, Lismore, Churchill Auditorium,
Elision Ensemble, Satsuki Odamura koto, conductor Sandro Gorli
Score (136557), Ricordi Milano
The long forgetting (2007)
for tenor Ganassi recorder
Duration: 5'
Premiere: 15 March 2008, St. Elisabeth-Kirche, Berlin, Maerzmusik Berlinerfestspiele
Genevieve Lacey, recorder
Score: (RICL086), Ricordi London
Ming Qi (Bright Vessel) (2000)
For oboe and percussion
Duration: 3'
Commissioned by the Divertimento Ensemble
Premiere: 1 October 2000, Venice Biennale,
Luca Avanzi oboe, Riccardo Balbinutti percussion
Score (138636), Ricordi Milano
Ochred String (2007)
for oboe, viola, viola, 'cello
Duration: 14'
Score (RICL110), Ricordi London
Philtre (1997)
for solo violin (scordatura) [or Hardanger fiddle]
Duration: 5'
Premiere: 15 March 1998, Amsterdam, Mary Oliver (Norwegian Hardanger fiddle)
Score (138070), Ricordi Milano
The Quickening (2004-05)
Soprano and qin (Chinese zither)
Text by Yang Lian
Duration: 22'
Commissioned by Festival d'Automne à Paris
Premiere: 29 November 2005, Paris, Cité de la Musique, Deborah Kayser, Yang Chunwei
Score (RICL054), Ricordi London
Shimmer Songs (2006)
‘double quartet'
For string quartet (2 Vln, Vla, Vc), harp, 3 perc
Duration: 15'
Commissioned by the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
through the Fromm Foundation
Premiere 2007, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players
Score (RICL059), Ricordi London
Songs found in dream (2005)
For 8 musicians
Ob, Bass Cl, Alto Sax, Trumpet, 2 Perc, Vc, D Bass
Duration: 16'
Commissioned by Salzburger Festspiele
Premiere: 20 August 2005, Mozarteum Salzburg,
Klangforum Wien conducted by Stefan Ashbury
Score (RICL052), Ricordi London
Sonorous Body (2008)
for solo b flat clarinet
Duration: 12'
Commissioned by Zeitgenoessischer Oper Berlin & ELISION
Premiere: 15 March 2008, St Elisabeth-Kirche as part of TON project, Märzmusik, Berlin
Score (RICL112), Ricordi London
Spirit Weapons (1999-2000)
Part I for violoncello solo
Part II for contrabass clarinet and 3 percussion
The two parts may be performed separately
Duration: 17' (Part I: 6'5"; Part II: 9')
Commissioned by Ensemble Intercontemporain
Premiere: 4 November 2000, Paris, Centre G. Pompidou
violoncello Pierre Strauch, clarinets Alain Billard,
percussion: Vincent Bauer, Daniel Ciampolini and Michel Cerutti
Score (138579), Ricordi Milano
Street of Crocodiles (1995)
For 9 musicians
Fl, Ob, Alto Sax, Alto Tbn, Cimbalom/Perc, Vln, Vla, Vc Baroque Vc
Duration: 14'
Commissioned by Ensemble Modern
Premiere: 3 November 1995, Frankfurt, Alte Oper
Ensemble Modern, conductor Ingo Metzmacher
Score (137227), Ricordi Milano
Veil (1999)
For 7 Musicians
Fl/Bass Fl, Bass Cl, Tpt in C, Perc, Piano, Vln, Vc
Duration 10'
Commissioned by Ensemble für neue musik zürich
Premiere: 23 February 2000, Cologne, WDR Composer Portrait
Ensemble für neue musik zürich, conductor Jürg Henneberger
Score (138547), Ricordi Milano
Voodoo Child (1989)
For soprano and 7 musicians
Soprano, Fl/picc, Cl, Tbn, Perc, Piano, Vln, Vc
Text by Sappho (in Ancient Greek)
Duration: 11'
Commissioned by Radio Bremen
Premiere: 12 May 1990, Bremen, Festival Pro Musica Nova
Ensemble Avance, soprano Ingrid Schmithüsen, conductor Andras Hamary
Score (135688), Ricordi Milano
Weaver-of-fictions (2007)
(Prelude to The Navigator)
for alto Ganassi recorder
Duration: 5'
Premiere: 26 May 2007, Iwaki Auditorium, Melbourne
Genevieve Lacey, recorder
Score (RICL084), Ricordi London
Well of Dreams (2008)
For solo alto trombone
Duration: 5'
Commissioned by Zeitgenoessischer Oper Berlin & ELISION
Premiere: 15 March 2008, St Elisabeth-Kirche as part of TON project, Märzmusik, Berlin
Score (RICL111), Ricordi London
Wild-winged one (2007)
for solo trumpet
Duration: 8'
Premiere: 6 September 2007, Museum fur Asiatische Kunst, Berlin,
Nathan Plante, trumpet
Score (RICL085), Ricordi London
From 2010, Liza Lim's works have been published exclusively by Ricordi Munich.
WORKS
Gyfu (gift) (2011)
for Solo oboe
Premiere: 4 September 2011, ARD Musikwettbewerb / Duration: 10'
Ricordi Munich Sy 4073
Invisibility (2009)
für Violoncello mit zwei Bögen
Duration: 10' Min.
Premiere: Huddersfield, 26.11.2009
Sy. 4042 *Part.
Tongue of the Invisible (2010/11)
A work for improvising musician, baritone and 16 musicians
1. At dawn I heard the tongue of the invisible; 2. Between the pages of the world (i); 3. This door is the mouth of love; 4. Between the pages of the world (ii); 5. The roots of the world are entwined in the wind; 6. Between the pages of the world (iii); 7. Encircling its towers with a silver coronet of song; 8. Our embraces are a banquet of revolving time
Soli: Klav (präp). Bar.
1 (Afl. Picc). 1 (Lupophon). 1 (Bkl. Kbkl). Asax (Barsax). 1 (Contraforte). / 1. 1 (Doppeltrtr. Flhr). Tbps. 0. Eu. / Schlzg. Cim. / 1. 1. 1. 1. 1.
Premiere: Amsterdam, 8.6.2011 / Duration: 60'
Sy. 4063 Part. / Sti.
Pearl, Ochre, Hair String (2010)
for orchestra
2, Picc., 2, Engl. Horn, 1, Bass Cl., 2, Contrabass Cl. / 4, 3, 2, Bass Tromb., 1 (Btb.) / Timp., 2, Perc. / Strings
Premiere: München, 9.7.2010 / Duration: 18 min.
Sy. 4041 Part. Sti.
Ehwaz (journeying) (2010)
für Trompete und Schlagzeug
Premiere: Sydney, 10.7.2010 / Duration: 15 min.
Sy. 4050 Part. (in Vorbereitung)
The Guest (2010)
für Blockflöte solo und Orchester
Solo: Blfl (Barock-Ablfl. Tenor-Ganassi-Blfl. Bassett-Blfl.).
2 (2 Picc. Afl). 2 (Eh). 1. Bkl (Kbkl). 1. Kfg. / 2 . 2. Picctr. 2 (Aps). Eu. 0. / 3 Schlzg (Cim). / 6. 6. 6. 6. 3.
Premiere: Donaueschingen, 15. Okt. 2010 / Dauer: ca. 20 min.
Sy. 4062 Part. Sti. (in Vorbereitung)
More works by Liza Lim are available from:
www.ricordi.de
www.ricordi.it
