Royal Jelly (2022)

for solo guitar

Duration: 9’ (3 movements)

Commissioned by and first performed by Emma-Shay Gallenti-Guilfoyle

Program Note

The idea for a piece about bees came to me after a trip with a taxi-driving beekeeper in Hobart. I delighted in hearing all sorts of facts about the hive; how consistent the temperature needs to be (34 degrees), how bees create their own air-conditioning system, how buzzing generates heat, how the hierarchy functions, and how bees only pollinate the most plentiful flora within a chosen radius. These are amazing creatures, capable of remarkable feats, giving their whole lives to the hive as drones, workers, scouts, and nurses.

Bees play an enormous role in our ecosystem yet there are grave concerns about their future, particularly in relation to our changing environment and the varroa mite. Royal Jelly is a celebration of bees and the tremendous work that they do! Royal jelly is a substance fed to the queen bee by worker bees, so it is vital to the survival of the entire hive. The title further hints at the musical fragments which are the ‘royal jelly’ of each movement, binding the threads together.

Bees are quite angular in their movement, often engaging in spontaneous dances, and so I sought to create a work which celebrates fragmented grooves and angular gestures – both rhythmically and sonically.  There is a sense of insect-like busyness at play throughout. Fragmented grooves populate the opening movement, with breakthrough grungy moments, while the second could be heard as a warped lullaby or interrupted ode. The final movement is optimistic, driving and highly percussive - a nod to bees’ industrious nature.

Performances

30 July 2023, Emma-Shay Gallenti-Guilfoyle, 2023 Guitar Festival at the Melbourne Conservatorium, VIC - Australian Premiere

29 September 2022, Emma-Shay Gallenti-Guilfoyle, Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, Germany - World Premiere