Rainforest TocattaWendy Hiscocks

Tonally based, using different scales and modes

Inspired by painters Turner and Lloyd Rees who explore colour and light

Piano solo with three main sections

1. Tranquil2. Light and running

toccata, a brilliant show piece with a free improvised feeling

3. Tranquil similar to first movement

Inspirations Echoing, acoustic and

atmosphere of the Devil’s Coach House at the Jenolan Caves in NSW

Sounds and scents of Australian rainforests

Bellbirds on the escarpments of NSW central coast

Impressionism Musicology Colourful use of

piano Sustain pedal to

blur sound Use of

chromaticism and modes

Use of tone clusters Use of particular

dissonant intervals to evoke an exotic setting

Use of extremes of registers

Basic rhythmic units of this music run in groups of 3 beats

Either ¾ or 3/8 Waltz meters coexist

with “out of time” groups that are sometimes beamed across bar lines

Focus Question1. How is the effect of a dark,

echoing cavern created in bars 1-7?

Focus Question1. How does the music

build to a climax in bars 31-38, the end of the first section?

Focus Question1. In what ways is

the second section different from the first?

Focus Question1. How are bellbirds

suggested in this section?