Though I travel far, I do not forget

Programme Notes

In late 2007 the Chairman of the Australian Mandolin Music Association, Geoffrey Barber, asked me to write a piece for mandolin orchestra.  He explained, that the AMMA were building a body of quality mandolin music for present and future generations and that this music would be made available to Australian orchestras for performance and also to selected orchestras overseas.  I was delighted to accept the commission. The initiative and the philosophy of AMMA, in their nurturing and promotion of Australian music, appealed to me greatly and I was even more delighted when Geoffrey wrote: "I would like you to do something that you feel inspired to write".

I did enjoy writing Though I travel far, I do not forget.  I see the title as a little enigmatic. Perhaps it refers to an actual journey or journeys but could just as well refer to a journey of the mind. Then there is the thought of significant others who accompany our journey, or the enduring memory of a landscape to which we may travel in imagination.  Both these elements inhabit this work. 

I have lived for many years in Highgate Hill, a suburb close to Brisbane city and one that is rich in Greek culture. Neighbouring families are Greek, shops are full of Greek delicacies and restaurants and clubs offer fabulous Greek cuisine.  But, best of all, there is the music and the dance and the singing of the choir in the great celebrations of the Greek Orthodox Church.  These are influences which inspire this work;  they remind me of the long journeys made by those who left their homeland,  who traveled far to come to a new land, a land  they grew to love yet, though far from home, they do not forget.

I see the work as expressive, coloured by the influences I have described above, a work offering opportunities for an appreciation of line; it is not too demanding technically or rhythmically and is harmonically very accessible.  It is a simple work but one requiring sensitivity to balance between the individual groups engaged in its performance and to an exploitation of the wonderfully rich tones which the mandolin orchestra can provide.  I hope this work will engage both the musicians who perform it and to the audiences who may hear it.  I thank the Australian Mandolin Music Association for the opportunity to have written Though I travel far, I do not forget.

Betty Beath,

30th March, 2008.