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The Origin Cycle Performed at the Australian Museum

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Charles Darwin's Origin of Species is not only one of the most important scientific works of all time, but one of the most beautifully written. In The Origin Cycle, for soprano and chamber ensemble, fragments of Darwin's great book are set to music by Australian composers Elliott Gyger, Elena Kats-Chernin, Kate Neal, Rosalind Page, Paul Stanhope, Nicholas Vines and Dan Walker.

In celebration of the 2009 bicentennial of Darwin's birth and 150 years since the first publication of the Origin, this performance by Ensemble Offspring and soprano Jane Sheldon will take place among the exhibits of the Australian Museum.

The passages chosen encompass the entire work, capturing the many facets of a Darwinian view of nature and summarising what Darwin called the ‘one long argument' contained in the Origin. They include the passages introducing his most famous and enduring images - the ‘tree of life' connecting all species, the vision of nature as a surface into which wedges are unceasingly struck, and the book's final invocation of ‘grandeur in this view of life'.

Performers: Jane Sheldon soprano and Ensemble Offspring
Date: 7:00pm Thursday 19 November 2009
Where: Australian Museum, College St entrance, cnr William & College St, Sydney
Price: $16 Australian Museum Members / $20 nonmembers /$12 Concession & Under 30
Bookings: 0411 606 077 or tickets available at the door

Supported by the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australian Museum.

The Origin Cycle Performed at the Australian Museum

The Origin Cycle Performed at the Australian Museum