That I Might Know, That I Might Know
for solo double bass
Composed for Oakley Paul
Performed as part of The ANAM Set 2024
This ANAM Set commission was generously supported by the Australian Government through Creative Australia and the Anthony and Sharon Lee Foundation
Program note:
This piece is an exploration, as well as a celebration, of the ways in which knowledge and information can flow between people. My greatest hope is to express and transmit something of my own understanding of the double bass via an indirect and beautifully messy path. In writing the piece, I drew on the physicality and sonority of the double bass which has, for over half my life, fundamentally shaped my understanding of sound. This knowledge and perspective are encoded in the score, which Oakley Paul can then bring to life through his own deep knowledge of the instrument, illuminating new and wonderful details. As we invite one another into new territory, I am happy and grateful to play a role this shared experience of learning and teaching, of guiding and being guided.
About the composer:
Jonathan Heilbron (he/him) is an Australian composer and performer. He is active in the fields of contemporary, improvised and experimental music. In addition to performing his own compositions, Jonathan composes music for and with interpreters of contemporary music, improvisers, untrained musicians, and performers specializing in various world folk music traditions. His compositional practice utilizes collagist approaches to sound and large-scale compositional structures while emphasizing collaboration. Jonathan works directly with performers to shape and develop works that reflect shared goals and intersecting areas of musical interest.
Jonathan has worked with a broad range of musicians to develop new work, which has been performed across Australia and in Germany, Norway, Italy, Portugal and the USA. Critically acclaimed recordings of Jonathan’s compositions have been released by renowned labels for exploratory music, including Another Timbre (UK), Insub (Switzerland), Intonema (Russia), and inexhaustible editions (Slovenia).
Jonathan is the founder and Artistic Director of the Phonetic Orchestra. He is also a member of the Harmonic Space Orchestra and Ensemble KNM Berlin. He also works regularly with some of Europe’s most renowned ensembles for contemporary music, including Ensemble Musikfabrik, Klangforum Wien, Apartment House, Mùˆnchener Kammerorchester, and Ensemble Resonanz, and is active as an improviser and soloist.
For more about Jonathan, visit his website: jonheilbronmusic.com/