Richard Mills
Richard Mills composes opera, song and solo instrumental music with a practical lyric ear. His Judith Wright cycle Woman to Man and his Pastoral and Six Preludes for solo oboe give singers and players clear lines and room to breathe.
Woman to Man, written for mezzo and piano, sets six Wright poems with direct, singable intensity. The Six Preludes and Pastoral for solo oboe have become recital and examination staples, full of character without empty display. He has also arranged carols for orchestra, among them Carol of the Drum. Larger stage works include the operas Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and Batavia, Australian stories shaped with the same sense of voice and theatre. Mills works as a conductor as well as a composer, leading and advising Australian opera companies from the podium.
Compositions by Richard Mills appear on
Bright Vessel
Tall Poppies is proud to release Bright Vessel, an important collection of Australian works for solo oboe and oboe d’amore, gathered and performed by Stephen Robinson.
Woman's Song: Australian Settings of Poetry by Judith Wright
Elizabeth Campbell has long been a tireless promoter of Australian art song. With Tony Fogg in the 1980s she presented the recital series From Nathan To Now; two decades later she brought that energy to a recording of settings of poetry by Judith Wright.
Christmas under Capricorn
The Australian Youth Orchestra, conducted by Graham Abbott, plays nineteen Christmas carols arranged for orchestra by Australian composers. Two carols appear in paired settings, inviting comparison. Listenable festive music, easy to give as a gift.