Though it might be a little against the grain, composer Melody Eötvös, for one, loves sand.

“I’m one of those people that look forward to having sand everywhere through their things on a beach holiday or camping trip; letting piles of the stuff accumulate in a sleeping bag, and then having to shake it out of my socks for weeks after,” she tells Limelight.

“I’ve been that way since I was a kid. As an adult, I think the allure has evolved into loving the smaller details. From a composer’s perspective, at the end of the day, we love to get obsessed with things that stimulate and inspire us. Sand is one of the many things that does that for me.”

That same love is the spark of both musical and scientific curiosity for the Melbourne-based composer, who’s about to see the world premiere of a new work on 17 March performed by Ensemble Q titled Baelō. 

Like many works in Eötvös’s discography, Baelō takes its audience on a musical journey, this time to Baelo Claudio in the deep south of Spain,...