Seven Steps (Preview)

Gary Wain (1958)
Gary Wain is a composer, conductor and percussionist. He is the Principal Percussionist in
the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 1987. After graduating with
a Master of Music (Composition) from the University of Auckland in 1982, he spent several
years continuing his studies in percussion in London and Amsterdam before moving to
Australia to take up his present post. During this time he has also been active as a recitalist
and teacher. Since 1988 Wain has taught percussion and composition at the Tasmanian
Conservatorium of Music. In that same year he founded Drumwheel, Tasmania’s professional
percussion ensemble. Currently he also conducts the Hobart Chamber Orchestra.
A large part of Wain’s compositional output has been for, or inclusive of, percussion, and
includes major works specifically aimed at enriching the percussion repertoire. Whilst
sometimes technically challenging, his music has invariably proved interesting and
rewarding to both players and audiences. The textures in Wain’s writing are open and
clear, the language accessible, with ideas growing and developing in such a way as to lead
organically to a natural conclusion.
Seven Steps (1994)
The composer writes:
The title Seven Steps alludes to the sense of an onward and upward journey of the spirit,
and is occasionally inferred by a recurring seven-note rhythmic figure. Based on a
melodic shape stated at the beginning, Seven Steps evolves through a series of gestures and
episodes that combine in three main sections.
Wain wrote Seven Steps for Tasmanian percussion ensemble Drumwheel. The governing
moods are calmness and intensity, the latter coming to prevail as Seven Steps drives to its
PE013 – iii