IT was difficult for a new work having its initial public airing to find its place amongst a program featuring the revered, relentless rhythms of “Bolero,” the sheer beauty and tranquillity of “Clair de Lune,” the excitement of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and the compelling magic of Emily Sun playing Saint-Saens’ 3rd Violin Concerto.

The expanded forces of the CSO were tight and dynamic and the popular program was lapped up by an appreciative, capacity audience.

So, how did the Vincent Plush premiere of “Secret Geometries” stack up against such crowd pleasers? Though generously acknowledged, a greater understanding of the complexities of the work would need to be developed before it could garner the spontaneous enjoyment afforded the long-loved works.

The composer himself described his music as “a film score looking for a film” and elements of a grand Morricone like western were certainly present as a horn melody allowed the imagination to view a virgin valley about to be created into a capital city. Imagery and atmosphere predominated as slapping basses laid the building foundations whilst circles of marimba and vibraphone sound presented thoughts of nothing but our roads and roundabouts. There was shimmering and urging in the strings as growth of our city progressed, but that was often interrupted by thundering tympani perhaps as development hiccups got in the way.

Musical pitch references to letters spelling out the words “Canberra,” the Griffins, and other historically significant characters of the time, were too subtle for me to grasp on first hearing and I’m sure the images conjured in my mind differed greatly from the thoughts of others. That, however, is exactly what music of the abstract is meant to do.

A friend of the composer once said of Canberra: “this city is sheer music”. “Secret Geometries,” sometimes brash and bitter, sometimes calm and lilting, offered “sheer” music in an assortment of colours and styles with many a different interpretation possible.