For several years I have been interested in “re-composing” existing and old musical ideas and elements such as folk songs, hymns, and chants, where melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic elements are fragmented and then developed and expanded in different ways throughout a piece. In writing this work I was also thinking about political and social instability in the world today. I came across a beautiful Lenten hymn where a woman sings a lament for the loss of her son during war time. The original hymn with its lament-like simple melodies is played alone in the opening, and varying accompaniment textures are added to it as the piece moves through changes of mood and tempi before presenting a re-harmonisation of the hymn tune. Let us strive for peace and kindness, always.

Bitter Tears was commissioned in 2022 by Musica Viva Australia in honour of Barry Jones’s 90th birthday by a group of his friends. Bitter Tears was the test piece for piano trio at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition 2023. The Barry Jones Commission Performance Prize (winner of best performance of the Australian work) was awarded to Trio Orelon.

Instrumentation: violin, cello, piano

Duration: 10 1/2 minutes