Kelly-Marie Murphy was born on the Sardegna NATO base in Italy and grew up on Armed Forces bases all across Canada. She gained her B. Mus. in 1987 and an M. Mus. in 1989 from the University of Calgary, working with composer Allan Bell. She then studied at the University of Leeds where she obtained her Ph.D. in composition under the supervision of Philip Wilby in 1994. For many years she was based in Washington, D.C. where she was designated “an alien of extra-ordinary ability”! She is now resident in Ottawa.

                Kelly-Marie Murphy has been the recipient of many prizes for her compositions including the first prize in the New Works Calgary Composers’ Competition in 1992. Murphy’s music has been performed in the UK, Japan, Europe and North America by outstanding soloists and ensembles led by such renowned conductors as Sir Andrew Davis and Mario Bernardi. Her most recent awards include the inaugural Maria Anna Mozart Award in 2017 and she was the winner of the Azrieli Commission in 2018.

                Kelly-Marie Murphy is now one of Canada’s most accomplished composers. Her works have substance and originality as well as being clothed in fascinating orchestral colour. This work is a case in point.

                The composer has provided the following note:

                “A Thousand Natural Shocks was commissioned by the CBC at the request of Bramwell Tovey, for the occasion of his first concert as music director with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

                “The idea behind the piece is that change and new beginnings can be shocking and stressful, but also full of fantastic challenges that are ultimately as rewarding as they are necessary. The fear and tension of a new experience can quickly melt into a thrilling course of action. Whereas Shakespeare had Hamlet wondering what to do when faced with “outrageous Fortune”, Machiavelli proposed that “Fortune favours the impetuous”. Musically, I explore these approaches in elements of the orchestration. The piece begins with an extended timpani solo. When the orchestra finally enters, it is a loud, chaotic, tangle of lines in competition with one another. Although the majority of the piece is highly charged, fast, and dramatic, an important feature of all my works is the solo voice. These moments focus on the individual voice that can be overwhelmed by the crowd, yet is capable of being heard. In addition to the opening timpani solo, the piece also features extended solos for harp, oboe, flute, and percussion.

                “A Thousand Natural Shocks is in one movement and lasts roughly 9’30”. It was written between January and July [2000] and is dedicated to Bramwell Tovey with great respect. The title comes from Hamlet’s soliloquy, ‘To be or not to be...’ ‘and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.’

© David Gardner

Curators | Nos conservateurs

Dr. David Gardner
Ottawa Symphony Historian | Historien de l’ Orchestre symphonique d’ Ottawa

Alain Trudel
Ottawa Symphony Music Director | directeur musicale

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