Program Note

Debussy is one of my favourite composers. I love the incredible beauty and deep emotional expression his music evokes. The tranquil, dreamlike character I have explored in this piece, “The Enchanted Library”, alludes to the stylistic qualities of Debussy’s music through the use of a whole tone scale and the ambiguous thematic direction of the music. The piece was written in Golden Section Form with the point of golden section occurring at bar 21, when the theme returns to previous motifs and variations on previous motifs.

 This piece, formally titled “Alone”, was renamed “The Enchanted Library” in 2023 to reflect the peaceful, tranquil nature of the music.

 Dedication

This piece is dedicated to inspiring performer and dear friend Carmen Chan. I will be forever grateful to Carmen for her encouragement and support of my compositional endeavours.

 Performance Information

The Enchanted Library (formally titled “Alone”) was first performed by Carmen Chan in 'Melbourne University Composers - a concert of new works', held in Melba Hall on the 9th of May 2000.

Cover art photo by Jaredd Craig on Unsplash