There was no escaping the spectre of death in this Melbourne Symphony Orchestra program. It opened with Ravel’s Pavane pour infante défunte, a tribute to untimely corporeal death.

Then came the world premiere of Joe Chindamo’s Are There Any Questions? (subtitled A Requiem for the Vanishing Self).

The finale of this emotionally charged program was Stravinsky’s groundbreaking depiction of human sacrifice, Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring).

The MSO, under the sensitive direction of Principal Conductor Benjamin Northey, gave an atmospheric performance of the Pavane and an electrifying Rite of Spring. But it was Chindamo’s Requiem, the first work completed during his tenure as MSO 2026 Composer in Residence, that was the highlight.

Jessica Aszodi and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra: Stravinsky & Chindamo. Photo © Mark Gambino

The idea was seeded during the pandemic, when Chindamo dived into dystopian literature. The title quotes the last sentence in Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale.

Chindamo describes his work as a “meta-requiem”, because the self has...