In the Silence of Night (Preview)

PROMETHEAN EDITIONS 

BRENTON BROADSTOCK 

In the Silence of Night 

Piano

Brenton Broadstock 


Piano 

PROMETHEAN EDITIONS 

WELLINGTON

In the Silence of Night (PE043), for Piano by Brenton Broadstock 

(1989) 

© Brenton Broadstock 1989 

Published exclusively by Promethean Editions Limited 

First edition © 2002 Promethean Editions Limited (201509) 

Series Editor: Ross Hendy 

Editor: Thomas Liggett 

ISBN: 978-1-877218-43-9 (print) 

ISBN: 978-1-77660-043-4 (ebook) 

ISMN: 979-0-67452-071-3 

Promethean Editions Limited 

PO Box 10-143 

Wellington 

NEW ZEALAND 

http://www.promethean-editions.com 

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by 

any means without permission in writing from the Publisher. 

PE043 – ii

Brenton Broadstock (1952) 

Brenton Broadstock was born in Melbourne, Australia. He studied History, Politics and Music 

at Monash University, and later composition and theory with Donald Freund at Memphis 

State University in the USA and with Peter Sculthorpe at the University of Sydney. The 

University of Melbourne awarded him the Doctor of Music degree in 1987. From 1982 to 2007 

he was employed in the Faculty of Music, University of Melbourne, where he was Professor of 

Music and Head of Composition. 

Broadstock has won numerous prizes for composition including First Prize in the 1981 

Townsville Pacific Festival’s National Composition Competition; the Albert Maggs Award; 

two APRA Music Awards; and First Prize in the Hambacher Preis International Composers’ 

Competition, West Germany. In 1994 he received the Paul Lowin Song Cycle Award, in 1997 

the Jean Bogan Prize, and in 2001 the AMC Award for Best Composition (Victoria). In 1999 he 

received the prestigious Don Banks Award from the Australia Council which enabled him to 

compose for the year, and visit the USA (Indiana University), England and Russia. In 2002 his 

Federation Flourish was nominated for an APRA/AMC Orchestral Work of the Year. 

His music has been performed by all of the major orchestras in Australia, and in 1988-89 he 

was the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s inaugural Composer-in-Residence. A recording 

of his five symphonies, performed by the Krasnoyarsk Symphony Orchestra under Andrew 

Wheeler, was released on the Etcetera label in 2001. 

In January 2014 Broadstock received an AM – Member of the Order of Australia – in the 

Australia Day Honours for “significant service to music as a composer, educator and mentor”. 

PE043 – iii

In the Silence of Night (1989) 

In the Silence of Night belongs to the genus of his output Broadstock calls his ‘Life Cycle’ 

series, along with Clear Flame Within (1996). Light is here perhaps muted, perhaps nonexistent, 

in a physical sense, but in a metaphorical sense it could be representing emotional 

clarity – it is possible to gain the clearest insights and elucidation when alone at night. In an 

instance of those rare yet intriguing coincidences in the creative process, no sooner was the 

piece complete and its title assigned than the commissioner, Linda Kouvaras, came across 

a poem by Søren Kierkegaard, which the composer agrees is an apt reflection of the central 

notion of the piece. 

Either/Or, A Fragment of Life (1843) 

I have but one friend, Echo, and why is Echo my friend? 

Because I love my sorrow and Echo does not take it away from me. 

I have only one confidant, the silence of night; 

And why is it my confidant? 

Because it is silent. 

The music unfolds over slowly altering, minimalist-structured ostinato patterns. Cast in 

the aeolian mode, it proceeds in a hypnotic yet wistful fashion, until it reaches its climax 

at two thirds of the way through, conforming as usual to Broadstock’s predilection for the 

‘Golden Mean’ form. The intensity of the dynamics and harmony at this point suggest that 

the meditator, experiencing the silence of night, is very much awake and is perhaps engaged 

in deeply private reflection. Once the turbulence has subsided, the original mood returns; 

this time the ostinato patterns have been exchanged between the hands. The piece concludes 

with a recapitulation of the opening, gentle chimes-effect. This, having been transformed into 

a breathless surging-forth at the climax, is transfigured and becalmed last in the concluding 

E-major sixth sonorities. 

© 1998 Linda Kouvaras 

PE043 – iv

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In the Silence of Night © 1989 Brenton Broadstock 

This edition © 2002 Promethean Editions Limited PE043 – 1 

ISMN: 979-0-67452-071-3

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