Raffaele Marcellino
Raffaele Marcellino writes chamber, choral and instrumental music that favours wit and idiosyncrasy over dogma. His scores can be ballistic and explosive, or spare and enigmatic, always alert to text, colour and the physical life of the instruments.
Whispers of Fauvel for saxophone is ballistic and modern: it howls and shrieks, hammering through memories of the souk. Logos, written for Sydney Chamber Choir after a Paul Lowin song-cycle award, builds a multilingual Babel until the texture is too confused to hold. The guitar set Q draws on the Dead Sea Scrolls as a series of short, enigmatic panels. Turbulent Passions Calm sits among Halcyon's commissions for two female voices and chamber ensemble. A sustained partnership with The Song Company yielded the choral cycle The O Antiphons and other works that treat words as drama. The music stays theatrical, specific and happy to collide styles rather than polish them smooth.
Compositions by Raffaele Marcellino appear on
Kingfisher
This CD is the result of a daring project to commission 21 composers to write new works for Halcyon's two singers, Jenny Duck-Chong and Alison Morgan. Presented over two concerts in their 15th anniversary year, and then recorded at Trackdown.
Fretsongs
David Malone teaches guitar at the Tasmanian Conservatorium and is in demand as a recitalist. He encourages local composers to write for his instrument, and this debut solo disc is the fruit of that work: a fresh, lively survey of Tasmanian music that gives him room to show his virtuosity.
Landscape's Creatures
A collection of recent Australian choral music, mostly by younger composers. It is good to see that choral writing is alive and well in Australia. Each work makes a strong statement, with a variety of choral techniques and styles.
Viva Sax!
Margery Smith is a Sydney-based saxophonist whose virtuosity meets the full range of this Australian programme, from mid-century sonatas to later works that lean into jazz, improvisation and ensemble colour.
Mere Bagatelles
As an overview of Australian composition in the 90s, this CD could not be bettered: a musicianly survey of short piano works, with performances of real authority.