Ian Keith Harris

This work was written for Jennifer Paull (during the summer of 2006) and dedicated to her. She asked me to compose a set of miniatures for the smallest member of the oboe family, the musette. The project evoked reminiscences of ant families in Tasmania.

There are several small black ants, which I have collectively named Black Sugar Ants. These seem to emerge in vast numbers whenever there is anything edible about. They ‘farm’ aphids and scale insects for the honeydew, which the sapsuckers produce. Extremely fastidious and house-proud, ‘nature’s gardeners’ are essential for the well being of soil and habitat. They are always busy, and ‘on the go’. The music portrays these characteristics.

Red Soldier Ants are about twelve millimetres long, and aggressive. They tend to advance by ‘column of route’ with a habit of darting off to the side in scouting parties to raid other insects they discover in their path. Armed with a painful sting, they do not hesitate to use their weapon. The music is a little satirical with a miniature dissonant bugle call and accompaniment clusters.

Bull Ants are from 15 to18 millimetres long and steel blue. They can jump up to a metre if provoked, latch on with their mandibles (large and curved like bulls’ horns), and curl their abdomens to administer repeated and extremely painful stings. They seem to follow one around. There are two ‘jumps’ in their musical miniature.

The Inchman, an iridescent, steely specimen about 25 to 30 millimetres in length, has a frequently lethal sting resulting in several deaths in Tasmania annually. Each ant appears to be solitary following at some distance from its predecessor. They move in a determined manner, often at great speed. The jumping varieties are collectively known as ‘Jack Jumpers’. There is only one ‘jump’ in the music of their musical likeness -- at its abrupt end!

Argentine Ants are small, numerous, and tend to be brown. They came into Tasmania uninvited and are very efficient in food sourcing, invading dwellings, forest and farmland. They are represented by a whimsical tango in which motifs from all the other sections scurry through. This is followed by a frenzied Coda.

The work is to be played as a single movement without a break, each section segue. Ideally the accompanying instrument should the harpsichord, which adds to the insect-like character. This can also be played on piano or electric piano.

Ian Keith Harris
2006

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