Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

This work refers to the science fiction book Voyage to Kazohinia by Hungarian Sándor Szathmári, written in 1941. It is a satire on fascism, like Huxley's Brave New World, and with deep suspicion explores the concept of human perfectibility. The original concept for the piece was as an operatic 30-minute journey through John Howard's dystopian Australia of the late 1990s, and incorporated visual imagery as well as poetry by La Mama's Lloyd Jones. This version was premiered at the Sydney Town Hall as part of the Sydney Festival on 21 January 1998. Dominic Harvey performed on French horn and also sang heldentenor, Adrian Luca and Michael Kieran Harvey performed on various keyboards, including the Stuart and Sons piano, and Philip South provided drums via CD playback. The revised version was premiered at the Brisbane Powerhouse in the Slave Pianos production of The Lepidopters, on 26 February 2016, with Dominic Harvey again on French horn and Michael Kieran Harvey on keyboards and CD playback.

Work Details

Year: 1998

Instrumentation: Piano, synthesizer, French horn, drums.

Duration: 6 min.

Difficulty: Advanced — Virtuoso technique required, advanced improvisation skill

Dedication note: Dedicated to Dominic Harvey

Commission note: Written for Sydney Festival

First performance: by Michael Kieran Harvey, Dominic Harvey, Adrian Luca — 21 Jan 98. Sydney Town Hall