Shades of Futures Past

flute/alto flute/piccolo, 3 x perc, piano, strings.

2003 rev. 2010: 19 mins. 30 secs. approx.

As a title, Shades of Futures Past could perhaps be explained in a number of ways. One reading might imply that any fears the future might once have held have been successfully resolved, whilst another could be seen to suggest an unreconciled past haunted by regrets and lost opportunities. As it relates to this work however, a more appropriate interpretation would most likely be found somewhere in between; in the uncertainty of the now that links the past to the future, and in the bittersweet blend of regret and optimism that is the lot of us all.

Shades of Futures Past is in 1 continuous movement comprising 12 linked sections. This commission was assisted by the [Australian] Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, and is dedicated to Linda Wetherill.

Shades of Futures Past was originally intended to feature on a tour of China in 2003 / 4, but due to regional concerns the tour never took place, the work therefore being premiered in a version for soloist and CD in New York in 2004.

Revised in 2010 to accommodate the use of smaller string sections, Shades of Futures Past was given its first full performance in August 2011, with the Arcko Symphonic Project conducted by Timothy Phillips, featuring Sarah Beggs as soloist.

Score sample (PDF)

Tim Phillips                                                                 Sarah Beggs

Photo: Langdon Rodda                                               Photo: Elaine Beggs

Arcko Symphonic Project                                                                                          Linda Wetherill

Photo: Langdon Rodda