POLDEN: Narawntapu Dusk for Clarinet Quartet

Narawntapu Dusk – Elegy for a wombat

Angela Polden

Duration 10:30 minutes approx.
Download includes digital score and parts [Clarinet Quartet Version Only]

The work depicts time at spent one of Tasmania’s prized National Parks: Narawntapu National Park.

With a diverse history, there is a great variety of environments including huge sand dunes, swamp forests and dry sclerophyll forests, coastal heathlands, rehabilitated pasture, both active and reclaimed wetlands, abundant and varied animal and bird life, including six out of the ten varieties of Tasmania frogs.

This work, originally for string quartet, describes two evenings at Spinglawn: a large area frequented by wildlife and from where many of the majestic views can be enjoyed.

Day 1 is calm, and clear and allows an experience of the vast and varied local beauty by starlight.

Day 2 is unsettled, with a light sprinkling rain and restless wind that eventually eases, allowing the possums, wombats, wallabies, native hen and other wildlife to emerge and join the frogs. The skies clear to reveal an array of stars enjoyed only in Australia’s wild places before the moon rises to illuminate the landscape.