Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Event Details

This concert explores diverse musical narrations of love and grief in contemporary Australian compositions for countertenor and solo piano.

Anthony Wilson - Tears, Idle Tears; A Bird Came Down the Walk 'Tears, Idle Tears' and 'A Bird Came Down the Walk' are reflective art songs composed by the Australian composer Anthony Wilson. 'Tears, Idle Tears' explores sets Tennyson’s poem that examines grief and acceptance, while 'A Bird Came Down the Walk' depicts the parallel worlds of humanity and nature in the poem by Emily Dickinson through a duality of tonalities. Anne Boyd - 'Kabarli Meditation (Dawn)' (piano solo) Inspired by Sidney Nolan’s painting Daisy Bates at Ooldea, Anne Boyd composed 'Kabarli Meditation (Dawn)' as a commission for the 2012 Sydney International Piano Competition. Daisy Bates was known as Kabbarli (Dreamtime ‘Wise Woman’) to the First Nation people and dwelt alone in a tent at Ooldea before 1935.

Anne Boyd paints the everchanging music of the sound of wind on the Ooldea plain as experienced at a Spring dawn and the mysterious colours of nature through an atmospheric soundscape. Margaret Sutherland - 'The Night Wind'; 'Tom O' Bedlam's Song' 'The Night Wind' and 'Tom O’Bedlam’s Song' are hauntingly beautiful songs composed by Margaret Sutherland, one of the most renowned Australian composers of the 20th Century. 'The Night Wind' sets the poem by Emily Bronte with a sense of unease and wonder, while 'Tom O’Bedlam’s Song' masterfully changes between extreme moods to show the depth of meaning behind madness.

Kenji Fujimura 'Variations on a Highland Air' (piano solo) 'Variations on a Highland Air' explores diverge portrayals of Scottish heritage ranging from the idyllic to feisty through a set of through-composed variations on the Skye Boat Song. Contrasting to a traditional theme and variation form, the Australian-Japanese composer Kenji Fujimura reserves the recognisable theme as a haunting chorale until towards the piece’s end, unfurling a poignant finale.

Kate Lawson Gould - 'The Seven Heavenly Virtues' 'The Seven Heavenly Virtues' is a whimsical song cycle in the style of a Jane Austin romance. Kate Lawson Gould tells the story of a young suitor struggling to decide between seven sisters who are virtuous by name and by nature.

We travel on a musical journey through charity, patience, humility, and many more. But who will the suitor choose?

Further information for this event is available online at the event's website or by phone on 0411 407 282 or by email to jennydfl@gmail.com

Featured artists

• Music of Kenji Fujimura
• Music of Anne Boyd
• Music of Anthony Wilson
• Music of Margaret Sutherland