Move Records Australian classical & art music, est. 1968
Front cover art for Threading the Light

Threading the Light

Threading the Light was composed between 2008 and 2012 as the cornerstone of a PhD in composition. Spurred by its 2022 world premiere by The Cooperative after a decade’s wait, Felicity Wilcox presents this personal, ethereal and strongly symbolic work.

Felicity Wilcoxelectronics
  • CatalogueMCD 636
  • Released15 Nov 2022
  • Playing time48 minutes 15 seconds

Listen & tracks

1 work · 48:15

  1. Threading the LightFelicity Wilcox 4 movements48:15
    1. 1 i. Light 14:39
    2. 2 ii. Water 15:46
    3. 3 iii. Blood 6:28
    4. 4 iv. Fire 11:22

Threading the Light takes its name from ritual as a constant in human culture: practices meant to lift attention beyond worldly concerns through spirituality.

Its four movements – Light, Water, Blood and Fire – name elements long tied to ritual. The score draws on Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Vedic source prayers. It is dedicated to the composer’s brother, the Reverend Dr Gavin Wilcox (1962–2008); his prayers “Walk in His Ways” and “Breath of Wind” appear in II. Water and IV. Fire.

Wilcox built an electronic instrument from Himalayan singing-bowl tones of various pitches, digitised and retuned in Just Intonation so that a virtual voice weaves through the piece. That layer blends with Jenny Duck-Chong, Alison Morgan and Mark Donnelly, set against a string and percussion ensemble under Sada Muramatsu, with soloists Anna McMichael, Luke Spicer and Anthea Cottee. The result is an ethereal, atmospheric meditation on grief, faith and light.

Reviews

Cast in four movements, each alluding to elemental forces – ‘Light’, ‘Water’, ‘Blood’ and ‘Fire’ – its engagement with ritual is more appositely realised in music that moves between hypnotising incantatory intensity, often mesmerising moments of beauty, and episodes of compelling drama.

— Michael Quinn, Limelight

Artists

Photograph of Felicity Wilcox

Felicity Wilcox

electronics

Felicity Wilcox is an ARIA and AACTA-nominated Australian composer whose output spans concert music, film and screen scores, songwriting and improvisation, and music for theatre, installation, live events and radio.

Digital booklet

Digital booklet Notes, texts and credits — read online or download the PDF Download the PDF

Buy now

$25.00 AUD

Compact disc

Buywell Music Australian Music Centre

Stream now

Apple Music Spotify

Also available to download from the iTunes Store.

Performers

Technical credits

  • Recording Engineer Robert Scott
  • Mixing Engineer Daniel Brown
  • Mastering Engineer Daniel Brown
  • Venue EMI Studios 301
  • Thanks to Michael Askill
  • Credit Lucy Scott

Details

List price
$25.00 AUD
Total playing time
48 minutes 15 seconds
Release date
Category
Classical
Genres
Contemporary Classical, Vocal & Opera
Musical work copyright
© 2022 Felicity Wilcox
Sound recording copyright
℗ 2022 Move Records
Catalogue
MCD 636
EAN
9314574063622

More to explore

Front cover art for Uncovered Ground

Uncovered Ground

This first collection of concert works by Felicity Wilcox gathers the cream of her chamber music from 2014 to 2018. It opens with the celebrated bass clarinet solo People of this Place, written for Jason Noble, and includes commissions for Ensemble Offspring, Ironwood and the Australia Ensemble, plus a movement from her first string quartet.

Front cover art for Cool Black: Chamber Works by Rosalind Page

Cool Black: Chamber Works by Rosalind Page

Inspired by Apollinaire, Lorca and Harðarson, Cool Black gathers three contrasting chamber song cycles by Rosalind Page, performed by the Australian vocal ensemble Halcyon.

Front cover art for Milerum's Basket

Milerum's Basket

A 2002 portrait of Adelaide composer Becky Llewellyn across chamber, orchestral and choral forces, with the Adelaide Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, Adelaide Chamber Singers, soloists and a multimedia video of Berceuse.