Inspirations
They say there is nothing new under the sun. New works of art challenge this notion. In this piano recording by Ian Holtham, all the works, commissioned from his Melbourne composer colleagues, are responses to major works in the piano literature. Something new has arisen, phoenix-like, out of something old.
Elliott Gyger composer
Stuart Greenbaum composer
Johanna Selleck composer
Barry Conyngham composer
Mark Pollard composer
The remarkable works presented here are all world premiere recordings. Their genesis lies in a relationship with canonic piano repertoire ranging from Scarlatti to Liszt. In all eight works, composers take as their starting point models long central to the piano. Eight quite different viewpoints also offer a snapshot of contemporary composition in Melbourne.
Included are the four works that constitute what Holtham called the ‘Melbourne Schubert Project’: musical reactions from four senior members of the University of Melbourne’s composition staff to Schubert’s last piano sonata. As a group they present a twenty-first-century response to one of the most beloved of all piano compositions.
Artist
Ian Holtham
Professor Ian Holtham is one of Australia’s most distinguished and highly regarded pianists and pedagogues. His performances of the great Classical and Romantic repertoire have drawn packed houses and strong critical acclaim for many years.
Tracks
- Glisten Katy Abbott 3:58
- As It Were Elliott Gyger 7:21
- The Petrarch Ascension Stuart Greenbaum 6:52
- Homage to Liszt Johanna Selleck 9:22
- Responce 7:54
- Incision 7:32
- Schubert 3 5:02
- Schubert: 1828, An Introspection 5:01
The Melbourne Schubert Project Barry Conyngham
Performers
- Ian Holtham · piano
Composers
Katy Abbott
Katy Abbott’s music is refreshingly genuine. She is part of a new wave of composers who emerged after the style wars that dominated Australian music in the nineties, and her work has no hint of either forced intellectualism or fluffy popularism.
Barry Conyngham
Barry Conyngham, born in Sydney, has received numerous awards and fellowships for composition, among them Churchill, Harkness, Australia Council and Senior Fulbright grants. He holds an ARIA, two Sounds Australian Critics Awards and two Maggs Awards.
Stuart Greenbaum
Stuart Greenbaum’s sound has overt connections to jazz, pop and minimalism, yet is equally grounded in the Western art music tradition, across a large body of orchestral, chamber, choral and stage works.
Elliott Gyger
Elliott Gyger was born in Sydney, and has been writing music since about the age of ten. His compositional and research interests include the creation of a purely musical sense of drama and narrative, and the multilayered interplay of music and text.
Mark Pollard
Australian composer Mark Clement Pollard has an eclectic style that draws on improvisation, jazz, pop, minimalism and the indigenous musics of South-East Asia.
Johanna Selleck
Johanna Selleck is a composer, musicologist, and flautist. She holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne, where she is an honorary fellow. Her compositions have been performed by internationally renowned artists across Australia, Europe, the USA, Asia, and the Middle East.
Where to listen
Inspirations is available for streaming through Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.
Inspirations is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.
Product details
- Catalogue number
- TP227
- Total playing time
- 53 minutes 2 seconds
- Venue
- Melba Hall
- Release date
- 23 Oct 2013
- Label
- Tall Poppies
- Musical work
copyright - © 2013 Tall Poppies
- Sound recording
copyright - ℗ 2013 Tall Poppies
- Category
- Australian Classics
- Genre
- Contemporary Classical
- Barcode
- EAN 9399001002276
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