Songs of Sea and Sky
Nigel Westlake and David Bollard present Australian music for clarinet and piano by Peter Sculthorpe, Ross Edwards, Mark Isaacs, Miriam Hyde, Margaret Sutherland and Don Banks.
Margaret Sutherland composer
Mark Isaacs composer
Miriam Hyde composer
Peter Sculthorpe composer
Ross Edwards composer
Both performers were members of the Australia Ensemble when this recording was made; Westlake later left to concentrate on composition. It was the first CD devoted to Australian clarinet music, and it includes two repertoire gems by Don Banks and Margaret Sutherland.
The programme opens with Sculthorpe’s title work and continues with Edwards’s The Tower of Remoteness, Hyde’s Clarinet Sonata in F minor, Isaacs’s Cantilena for bass clarinet and piano, and Banks’s Prologue, Night Piece and Blues for Two.
Reviews
The contrasts of style on the disc are considerable, but somehow it all seems to work together, producing a likeable and satisfying experience as a whole
... brings together two performers of powerful personality with brilliant technique and limitless colour-resource ... the CD is sensitively recorded and engineered ... Sleeve notes are excellent.
(Sculthorpe) A beauty ... (Sutherland) ... sublime melodic invention ... (Hyde) ... almost pure flowing lyricism ... (Banks) ... a delicious closer to a collection that should appeal to both performers and repertoire fans.
Artist
David Bollard
David Bollard is a New Zealand-born classical pianist who has made his career in Australia as a performer, teacher and adjudicator. He was a founding member of the Australia Ensemble from 1980 until 1998.
Tracks
- Songs of Sea and Sky Peter Sculthorpe
- Sonata Margaret Sutherland 7:59
- The Tower of Remoteness Ross Edwards 7:52
- Allegro moderato 6:50
- Tempo di minuetto 3:49
- Allegro molto 5:33
- Cantilena (for bass clarinet and piano) Mark Isaacs 5:37
- Prologue 1:55
- Night Piece 2:22
- Blues for Two 2:23
Clarinet Sonata in F minor Miriam Hyde
Prologue, Night Piece and Blues for Two Don Banks
Performers
- Nigel Westlake · clarinet
- David Bollard · piano
Composers
Don Banks
Don Banks (1923–1980) was an Australian composer of concert, jazz and commercial music. Serial craft, electronics and a lifelong pull toward jazz shaped chamber works, concertos and scores central to mid-century Australian modernism.
Ross Edwards
One of Australia's best known and most performed composers, Ross Edwards lives and works in Sydney. His commitment to music as a positive and regenerative force has led him to explore beyond the confines of Western art music.
Miriam Hyde
Miriam Hyde (1913–2005) was an Australian composer, pianist and teacher whose lyrical, post-romantic voice is especially known through her piano music and works for students.
Peter Sculthorpe
Peter Sculthorpe (1929–2014) was a Tasmanian-born composer whose orchestral and chamber music drew the Australian landscape, neighbouring Asian traditions and Indigenous materials into a clear, personal language. He wrote extensively for strings, piano and voice.
Margaret Sutherland
Margaret Sutherland (1897–1984) was an Australian composer whose work ranged across almost every form, with a particular gift for chamber music. She remains one of the most distinctive voices in twentieth-century Australian composition.
Mark Isaacs
Mark Isaacs writes chamber music that lets jazz breathe inside contemporary classical form. So It Does moves from sprightly rhythm to slow expressiveness and back; his Cantilena and solo bass-koto Chinkon keep that same lyrical, open ear.
Contributors
Liner Notes
David Bollard
David Bollard is a New Zealand-born classical pianist who has made his career in Australia as a performer, teacher and adjudicator. He was a founding member of the Australia Ensemble from 1980 until 1998.
Liner Notes
Don Westlake
Liner Notes
Jonathan Mills
Where to listen
Songs of Sea and Sky is available for streaming through Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.
Songs of Sea and Sky 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
- TP004
- Total playing time
- 44 minutes 20 seconds
- Producer
- Belinda Webster
Nigel Westlake - Recording Engineer
- Craig Preston
- Mastering Engineer
- Leon Zervos
- Venue
- Sir John Clancy Auditorium
- Credit
- David Bollard
Don Westlake
Jonathan Mills - Release date
- 2 Jun 1992
- Label
- Tall Poppies
- Musical work
copyright - © 1992 Tall Poppies Records
- Sound recording
copyright - ℗ 1992 Tall Poppies Records
- Category
- Australian Classics
- Genre
- Contemporary Classical
- Barcode
- EAN 9399000000426
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