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Performed by string duo High Heels and Horse Hair as part of their show Alba to Oz at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2011. Alice Rickards (violin) Sonia Cromarty (cello)
Programme Notes: Always on Time for violin and cello Commissioned by Musica Viva Australia on behalf of Sun Microsystems (Aust.) Always on Time was written in early 2001 as a tribute piece to Russell Bate, the retiring managing director of Sun Microsystems. A group of five composers was approached to each write a short piece (1-2 minutes) that outlined some aspect of Russell Bate's personality. The model for the idea behind this commission was a group of works in the mode of Hindemith's Kammermusik no. 1., op. 24 no 1 (Very Fast and Wild). Always on Time was based on the personal qualities of perseverance and puncuality, attributed to Mr. Bate. Hence there is a lot of striving towards a goal in the work. This piece was composed whilst I was composer-in-residence at the Peggy Glanville-Hicks House, Paddington. notes by Matthew Hindson