First published in 2023 as part of the world premiere of An Atlas of Joy with Stonnington Symphony.
Stonnington Symphony was proud to award Evan Lawson the 40th Anniversary Artistic Development Fund Commission for the world premiere at our 40th Anniversary Gala on Saturday 18 November.
We sat down with Evan Lawson to talk all things composition and his brand new work - An Atlas of Joy.
When did you start composing and what drew you to it?
I first started composing music when I started learning my first instrument, the clarinet when I was in grade 5 in 1999. I began to experiment on the instrument and it seemed natural to write down my ideas. I received lots of positive feedback about my ideas from teachers, so I simply kept at it.
Who are your influences?
Musically I could list names till the cows come home, but some key influences are Olivier Messiaen, Richard Strauss, Toru Takemtisu, Maurice Ravel, Kaija Saariaho, John Adams, Steve Reich and Gyorg Ligetti; and of course composition teachers and mentors I've been lucky enough to be inspired by like Johanna Selleck, Matthias Pintscher, Brett Dean and Liza Lim.
In general, I'm a big fan of history, art, philosophy and politics, so influences on my work range widely; at the moment I'm really into reading works by Umberto Eco, and through him Italian philosophy and theosophy of the 16th century. I've been thinking a lot about the late works of Richard Strauss, theatre works by Romeo Castelucci and I was in Japan earlier in the year and the Shinto religion has been another focus of my thinking of late. Many of my works also focus on ancient Greece, its mythology, culture and rituals.
What are we to expect in An Atlas of Joy?
The inspiration came from the concert program - the idea that The Rite of Spring explores birth and rejuvenation, while Four Last Songs looks back at life as a reflection before death. I wanted to contrast those ideas by writing a work that was about life, and the joy of living.
The piece is for a large orchestra and I've tried to create a work that is fun to play for every musician, providing them each with a little moment to shine.
What do you eat for breakfast?
My go-to morning fuel is oats with chocolate protein powder, a nut butter like almond or peanut and some cow or oat milk... and black coffee, of course.