In Search of Ecstasy (Preview)

Matthew Hindson (1968)
A leading figure among Australia’s composers, Matthew Hindson studied at the Universities
of Sydney and Melbourne with teachers such as Peter Sculthorpe, Eric Gross, Brenton
Broadstock and Ross Edwards.
Hindson’s music typically embodies a response to events or trends within contemporary
society, and is particularly notable for the way in which the influence of popular musical
styles appears within a ‘classical’ context. Particular among his interests are the techno and
death-metal genres, and echoes or imitations of their driving, repetitive rhythms and stock
harmonic progressions are typically found in his works, as well as an energy and a sense of
fun lacking in much contemporary music.
Hindson’s works have been performed by many Australian ensembles and orchestras,
including most of the orchestras attached to Symphony Australia, as well as chamber groups
such as the Song Company, the Sydney Alpha Ensemble, and the Goldner String Quartet with
guitarist Slava Grigoriyan. His music has also been extensively performed around the world
at events including the Gaudeamus Music Weeks in Amsterdam in 1994 and 2000, the 1996
ISCM Festival in Copenhagen and the 1997 Paris Rostrum.
In Search of Ecstasy (1996)
In Search of Ecstasy opens with the unaccompanied saxophonist repeatedly playing an
unhurried, yet somewhat unsettling motif into the open piano. This unmetered, rubato
introduction becomes increasingly disturbed by downward pitch bends that melt away the
motif’s tail. Momentum picks up with the entrance of the piano’s syncopated stabs, around
which the saxophonist also sprays accented off-beat notes. Thus far, “ecstasy” is somewhat
elusive, but begins to appear in small glimpses as the duo’s activity intensifies.
PE007 – iii