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Inside: Reviews Royal NZ Ballet with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra perform Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet 11/08. Alexander O’Sullivan p. 2 ANU School of Music production of Dido and Aeneas 27/08. Elizabeth Collier p. 3 DRUMatiX presents The World of Percussio 22/08. Teresa Neeman p. 4 Jazz performances on ANU Open Day, 28/08. Andrew Kimber p. 5 BREW Guitar Duo latest CD release & Wesley Lunchtime Live concert 18/08. Julian Hunt p. 6
Research Research Editor Alexander O’Sullivan interviews Anthony Smith about his upcoming Ph.D submission on Constant Lambert p. 8
Events p.10
A project of the ANU Music Students’ Association Supported by the ANU School of Music
Issue 2 - August 2010
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Reviews Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet: The Royal New Zealand Ballet joined by the Canberra Symphony
Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet. Royal New Zealand Ballet joined by members of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra Canberra Theatre Wednesday 11 August 7:30pm.
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Alexander O’Sullivan have often believed that a visit to the ballet in Australia offers more value than a visit to the opera. The national company, as well as those of several of the states, often offers unbelievably accomplished productions at a reasonable rate of admission. Unfortunately, since the Australian Ballet stopped touring to Canberra, local audiences have been forced to travel to Sydney for their classical dance fix. Despite numerous special offers, including a coach service chartered by the company for matinees, there is still a degree of public outrage over the decision. The reasons given are well known: namely that the Canberra Theatre is not equipped for large scale works, its orchestra pit is too small, and the Canberra Symphony Orchestra is too expensive to hire even for a short engagement. These arguments are somewhat justified, given that the CSO is not a fulltime professional orchestra, and that quality players are not always readily available in the Canberra region. However, many speculate that the frosty relationship between the head of music at the Australian Ballet, Nicolette Fraillon, with the members of the orchestra (Fraillon was the director of the School of Music during its tumultuous years between 1998 and 2003) is a contributing factor.
Thankfully the visit from the Royal New Zealand Ballet, which performed a newish production of Prokofiev’s crowd-pleaser, proved that Canberra is more than capable of staging large scale ballets. The production had a welcome simplicity. The action was updated to 1950s Italy, but this was a subtle setting. Although having Romeo running a café in the opening scene seemed a bit odd, the fundamental points of the story remained intact. The sets were simple, yet meaningful, clearly influenced by much reading of Bravacasa magazine. Juliet’s bedroom was dominated by an enormous white brick wall, which neatly emphasised her boredom and naïvety simultaneously. The choreography tended to favour Romeo’s companions over the lovers, and this was reflected in the curtain calls. Overall, there was a welcome restraint, which only served to highlight the drama, and also prevented the audience from laughing at some the plots more ridiculous coincidences. The orchestra, reduced in size for the Canberra Theatre’s tiny pit, performed incredibly. The Prelude, with its ridiculously high violin writing was perfectly in tune, and neatly encapsulated the musical approach,
a perfect mix of classical poise and emotional intensity. Several audience members remarked on the extraordinary dynamic range the orchestra was able to produce. I do not know if amplification was used – if it was, it was tastefully subtle. Hopefully, the success of the RNZB will pave the way for future touring by other companies, hopefully utilising the CSO as well.
3 The SOM Times team would like to make readers aware of our sister publication, mANUscript, from the students of the Writing for the Music Profession course.
avaliable at http://music.anu.edu.au/manuscript
Dido and Aeneas Beautiful performances overcome dodgy staging
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Elizabeth Collier n a beautifully chilling Sunday afternoon, it was with apprehension that a non-musical friend and myself attended the School of Music’s final performance of Purcell’s Dido and Aneaus. Everything I had heard in the lead up to the show had been a mixture of the positive and the not so positive. To my absolute pleasure however, I felt the musical accomplishment was a pleasure to experience. The chorus and soloists alike outdid themselves and the audience surrounding me agreed whole-heartedly. All I could hear as chatter erupted at interval was just how “lovely” (the preferred adjective of the older audience members) the vocalists had done. The same accolade was to be had at the conclusion of the show. Mr. Non-musical agreed that the singers had a clarity in their singing styles that “pop sing-
ers today could sure use”. The clarity remained solid even as the balance occasionally faulted with the higher voices sometimes overpowering the lower voices. The orchestra, led by Dr Geoffrey Lancaster, was an impressive sight heralding back to baroque conventions. Even with their hoodies and sun glass, the hip hop influence on the original score was minimal. Purcell’s writing was respectfully and imaginatively considered: the band was a fundamental element that carried and directed this performance towards success. Dr Lancaster’s new reconstruction of the Prologue from other Purcell works was a triumph of stylistic continuity. The stage presence of the lead singers must be commended. Each lead, especially Dido (Sonia Anfiloff) and Belinda (Karen Fitzgibbon) captured the audience’s attention with
their voices, as well as acting in a manner that made their characterisation compelling and convincing. Perhaps a weakness of the chorus was the Americanisation (for lack of a better term) of their characters. I appreciate that the hip-hopera genre of performances demanded a different approach to the use and function of the chorus, but the continually forced American accents grating and simply unnecessary. Mr Non-musical was interested to know why the singers transitioned from Australian singers to American gangsters. And here lies the rub. There was a distinct separation between the musical quality of the show and the visuals and staging that never seemed to interact comfortably. At times the awkward hip-hop dancing expected of the chorus distracted and detracted from their singing. Purcell’s dances were accompanied by similar
dances that at times, to uneducated un-hip or hop individuals such as myself and Mr Non-musical, seemed like stomping on the stage. There was no synthesis between the baroque music and the hiphop that was more often than not crudely superimposed and created an edge to the performance that was grating on the audience’s expectations. The harsh inconsistencies of the music and staging made the performance at times less about the music and more about mistimed dance moves and difficult lighting. This performance of Dido and Aneaus, although muddled in conception, was a beautiful musical experience in which the chorus and leads alike created beautiful characters that were compelling to watch. The consistent tone and timbre of the singers carried the performance through some trying moments of hip hop staging.
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Rhythm ‘n’ News Concert Review- DRUMatiX presents The World of Percussion
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Terresa Neeman trike! Shake! Bang! And they’re off! The Percussion area at the ANU School of Music may be small, but they’re mighty and they’ll be quite a hit at the International Percussion Festival in Brisbane on the 28-29 August weekend. They gave a preview of their snap and buzz on their Sunday 3PM August 22 percussion concert, sponsored by the Friends of the ANU School of Music. The highlight of the afternoon was Purge for Percussion Ensemble by Anders Astrand. Anders visited the ANU earlier this year as part of the ANU School of Music Premier Series. Gary France was totally groovy as the vibraphone soloist and the whole group - featuring marimbas and drums - was locked into a strong inner pulse that never wavered. Their tight ensemble kept the audience thoroughly engaged. The promised piece of music technology was the printed score on Gary’s laptop, with page-turning controlled by a foot pedal. Lickin Stick for Solo Snare Drum written by Australian Robert Cossom was expertly executed by Izad Sadler in the first performance of the afternoon. For those of us who typically rely on melody and harmony as our musical language, the diversity of sound achieved through rhythm, articulation and dynamic was impressive. One might have aptly subtitled this piece “On the varieties of rhythmic experience”. Wrists and fingers in full action, Sadler’s rendition was a panoply of pure rhythm and dynamic and his precise sense of timing kept his audience guessing what might be next. The only small detraction from an otherwise flawless performance was his deadpan expression. His face was hard to read and we would have wanted more of what was going through his mind to harmonise with the precision in his gestures. Yvonne Lam (marimba) featured a stunning work of percussionist Keiko Abe in
Memories of the Seashore. It was a journey of the soundscape of the marimba which demanded our full attention. Although the piece begins with barely a whisper, Yvonne filled the room with such an atmosphere that the audience needed to hear the resulting vibration of every gesture. Yvonne demonstrated her considerable facility with the marimba in a second piece: a complex rhythmic marimba duo called Nagoya Marimbas by Steve Reich. Recent graduate Christina Hopgood played the ostinato part which felt at times like a rhythmic forever, but the subtle changes in tonality and mood were done to beautiful effect. Their performance was a compelling confirmation that minimalism is not monotonous. First year students Jeremy Gallant, Cary Finlay, Anthony Ratzer and Will Jackson gave a credible performance of three movements of Michael Udow’s percussion quartet. The three movements - aptly named Shake, Scrape and Strike – were the low tech moments of the afternoon, utilising marimbas, scrapers and the sound of 6 hands clapping. In sharp contrast was the final piece on the program featuring the work and voice of legend Frank Zappa. Zappa originally wrote Black Page for drum kit and than later added a melodic line. It makes extensive use of tuplets, including 11-tuplets and tuplets within tuplets. The sheer difficulty of the piece as well as its “statistical density” (Zappa’s words) convinced him to arrange an easier version which he dubbed “The Black Page, Part 2, The Easy Teen-age New York Version.” DRUMatiX presented both versions which they called the “unplugged” and a “plugged” version. The “unplugged” version featured instruments especially made for Gary France: a chromatic octave of Boo Bams (long tube drums) and a three octave set of Cencerros (tuned Mexican cowbells). Other instruments were the wood blockophone and a smasher. The cowbells gave the piece a bucolic flavour although the level of virtuosity required would have
stumped even the most precocious cow. The fully plugged version showcased the percussion area’s “cutting edge” electronic percussion controllers, samplers and synthesizers. Although this version lacked statistical density, it was big and noisy but unfortunately a little monotonous. All in all, the percussion area is a group to watch and listen for in future performance. It was a memorable afternoon.
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Why Criticise?
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Alexander O’Sullivan n an age where everyone is conforming to an anti-conformist attitude, in which all approaches and interpretations are regarded as equally valid, it is interesting to see that sometimes critics can still make headlines. It is easy for music teachers and their students to revile critics. Don’t we all subscribe to Irish writer Brendan Behan’s oft quoted aphorism that “critics are like eunuchs in a harem”. They live with it (in this case music), understand how it works, and see it done everyday – but unfortunately cannot participate themselves. The Cleveland Orchestra has an enormous reputation; not least in Cleveland itself. According to its Wikipedia article, it is not unknown for orchestra groupies to congregate at the airport when the orchestra returns from tours chanting and waving placards of praise. The orchestra is considered one of the top five in the United States, and counts Georg Szell and Pierre Boulez among its past directors. Its current chief conductor is Franz Welser-Möst, who was appointed into this role in 2002. His contract is not due for reconsideration until the 2017-18 season. When not conducting in Cleveland, he acts as the Musical Director of the Vienna State Opera (whose orchestra forms the pool of players for the Vienna Philharmonic). Welser-Möst has distinguished himself through highly reliable and competent direction and balanced and sometimes zany programming – not unlike James Levine. In 2008, Cleveland’s largest newspaper, ironically titled The Plain Dealer, fired its primary music critic, Donald Rosenberg, citing his inability to write a good review of any concert conducted by Welser-Möst. Rosenberg promptly sued the company for unfair dismissal and age discrimination (he was replaced by a younger colleague). A few weeks ago, a jury found against Rosenberg on all claims. An enormous discussion began in the blogosphere, with many who had never read his reviews getting involved. Many accused him of trying to destroy Welser-Möst’s career, and most found his
lawsuit without merit. The quality in a concert review is not in its objectivity, or its assessment of the performance by some reproducible standard, but in how the critic conveys their experience of the event (in that space, with that performer, on that particular evening) in reasoned prose. However, we would still expect our reviewers to have a vast quantity of knowledge about music (more that what they read in Tovey’s guides) in its capacity to touch, explain and transport. So, here’s my demand of you: if you don’t like a review in SOM Times please write in to us and explain how your experience differed from our reviewer. A postscript (of sorts): One of Welser-Möst’s greatest achievements was his staging of Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Zurich Opera. Opera Australia recently announced plans to stage Wagner’s tetralogy in 2013 (the bicentenary of his birth) in Melbourne. After the enormous success of the State Opera of South Australia’s production in 2006, this promises to be a milestone event in Australia’s cultural history. While perhaps eclipsed in scale by Stockhausen’s Licht, Der Ring still marks the age of maturity of an opera company. It also illustrates, once again, how useless Sydney seems to be at attracting high culture events.
ANU Open Day, 28 August: Jazz
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Andrew Kimber he Jazz school was treated on the ANU Open day by 3 great performances from the ANU Big Band, ANU Recording Ensemble and the ANU Commercial Ensemble. Open Day is usually the first public performance of these bands as they shed off months of rehearsals and prepare for Concerts and Festivals that usually occur in October. The first to take the stage in the Big Band Room of the Peter Karmel building on Saturday was the ANU Commercial Band under the guidance of Eric Ajaye. The idea behind the Commercial Band is to expose students to playing in a commercial type of band, where often
sight reading very hard material can become a musicians best tools. So to foster these skills Eric keeps the material fresh and very difficult. The most noticeable thing from the audience is the groove that this years band has and how much fun everybody is having with the music and with each other. It is really refreshing to watch and hear and should remind us all why we play music. Tom Sly one of the great Trumpeters from this years line up talks about Eric “he’s amazing, he pushes us to nail it but also just pushes us to have fun too,” and it clearly shows when you hear the band in action. Next up was the Recording Band under the leader ship of Miroslav Bukovsky, The goal of this band is to perform and record music written by ANU composition students, most of which are third year Jazz students studying Large ensemble arranging through Miroslav. On Open Day they performed a John Hollenbeck tune as well as an original composition by third year Jazz pianist Andy Butler titled “Tightrope” and “Shift” by third year guitarist Jack Palmer. Both songs are a tribute to the teaching of Miroslav and the great creativity of Andy and Jack. The fact that the Big Band was able to perform as its Conductor John Mackey had been absent for a number of weeks leading up to the Open day and so rehearsals where lead by Baritone Sax player Tom Fell. Whether it was John’s preparation of the band or Tom’s recent polishing this was the best Big Band I’ve heard in my 4 years of hearing the ANU Big Band. Each section was performing very well together and the band grooved well as a unit and great solos from most of the musicians in the Big Band. A special mention is needed for Ax Long who performed and read the parts on the day as Callum Gracie the amazingly high pitched lead trumpeter had tonsillitis. However due to Callum’s awesomeness he played anyway and didn’t miss a note! Stay tuned for many great upcoming Jazz gigs including performances from the three ANU Jazz Ensembles both at the uni and abroad at Floriade and the Moruya Jazz Festival. Andrea Keller is also performing with some of the faculty members on Friday the 3rd of September, it shall be an amazing night of music not to be missed.
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BREW Guitar Duo Continuing success for School of Music graduates
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Julian Hunt hey won the Sydney Eisteddfod’s ‘instrumental duo’ and ‘chamber music with guitar’ divisions in 2006 and have since performed for guitar societies in Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and at the Darwin International Guitar Festival - the last of which, incidentally, was instigated by now Head of the ANU School of Music, Professor Adrian Walter. They’ve appeared on ABC radio numerous times and have been profiled on the ABC TV programme Stateline. Now they’re signing copies of their second CD, Landscape: Australian Guitar Duets, after each performance for a throng of enthusiastic concertgoers. Yes, the BREW Guitar Duo is doing something right. Bradley Kunda and Matthew Withers make up the ensemble. Both members have completed their Bachelor’s Degrees, and Mathew is now studying for a Master’s in Classical Guitar performance while Bradley is undertaking a Ph.D under Tim Kain and Geoffrey Lancaster on historically informed performance practice on his instrument. I have been lucky enough to have come across a copy of the BREW Guitar Duo’s latest CD, and the first noticable thing about it (beyond the fact that it is beautifully presented) is that it consists exclusively of Australian music. On this, the duo ought to be commended not only for producing a CD of contemporary Australian guitar music, but also for com-
missioning many of the works themselves and thereby fully engaging with and actively promoting this country’s music industry and cultural fabric. The playlist includes Nigel Westlake’s ‘Songs from the Forest’, Robert Davidson’s ‘Landscape’, a suite by Richard Charlton called ‘Two Guitars Dine Out: A Musical Degustation’, Bradley Kunda’s own ‘Waterlilies and ‘Little Dancer of the Gutter’, Harold Gretton’s ‘Opus 4: The Brood You Owe’, and three duets by Phillip Houghton. Despite restricting themselves to living Australian composers, the music includes a surprising degree of diversity, ranging from humorous pastiche and allusion to serious art music; so most should find something of interest in the programme. I’ve played the CD on a few systems, ranging from professional to very modest, and it’s an excellent recording which stands up to all of them. No distortion, great clarity and vibrancy, good dynamic range, all of which makes the CD appropriate for anything from a soundtrack to study or dinner to full attentive listening.
To find out more about the BREW Guitar Duo, or to purchase their CD, visit their website at http://www.brewguitarduo.com/
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Matthew and Bradley in concert at Wesley Lunchtime Live, 18 August
The qulaity of the playing is perhaps even better than that of the recording itself. Technically solid, professional use of contrast, and the two musicians seem to communicate intuitively to sound as if playing a single instrument. Of course, the best way to experience music making is to witness the process as it happens, at a live performance, and on 18 August the duo gave just that at Wesley Music Centre, showcasing a selection from the CD. The two began the concert with the Houghton duets, then played Bradley’s composition ‘Waterlilies’ which, as he explained, was inspired by the paintings by Claude Monet. Next was a selection from the Charlton suite of light hearted pastiche with a culinary theme which was commissioned by the duo, some movements appearing in their earlier CD, Songs & Dances.
Finally they played the title song, ‘Landscape’ by Davidson which Bradley arranged for two guitars himself. Bradley informed the audience before the duo embarked on this finale that Davidson considered this composition to be one of his best, but overlooked works. Hopefully the emphasis BREW have put on it will help bring the piece out of obscurity because it deserves the recognition, as does Bradley for arranging the work. It was a pleasure to watch and listen to the two players perform. The years of perfecting their craft as well as playing together have left a mark plain to see in the concert hall, where a genuine dialogue emerged between the two musicians and was effortlessly conveyed to the audience. At one point towards the end of the concert (during the Charlton) Mathew cleared his throat deliberately
photograph: Julian Hunt
and dramatically in response to Bradley’s musical line. This heightened the comic sense of that particularly light hearted part of the programme and is precisely the sort performing, moving beyond the score and onto the stage, that brings audiences back for more. Such was the reception of the concert that, as I left the Wesley Music Centre, a complete stranger was so excited about what she had just heard that she turned to me and exclaimed “that was marvellous, don’t you think? Best value in Canberra!” and for $2 entry I had no reservations in agreeing heartily.
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RESEARCH
Bacchanals, Ballets and Booze – The Joy of Lambert Research Editor Alexander O’Sullivan talks with Anthony Smith about his upcoming PhD submission. Anthony Smith is well known within the Canberra community as an pianist and composer. His PhD thesis is entitled A Dionysian Style Revealed: selected influences on Constant Lambert’s compositional language, with specific reference to the “Bacchanle” movements from the ballets Horoscope and Tiresias, and the “Brawles” movement of the masque Summer’s Last Will and Testament. Constant Lambert (1905-1951) was, like Mr Smith, a composer, pianist and writer about music. He also spent much of his later life conducting and even editing. Since he usually worked to commission, his known works only number twenty or so (Comparable to other composers who only wrote parttime, eg. Borodin, Mahler and Berg). He was part of a clique which included the writers Sacheverell Sitwell and Anthony Powell. Today, he is mostly known for his popular choral work The Rio Grand and his book-length critique of early 20th century music, Music Ho!. Mr Smith and I met for coffee a few weeks ago, and he described the mechanics of his project. His provisional topic was “Selected influences on Constant Lambert’s compositional language”, which was quickly shafted by his supervisor, Dr Geoffrey Lancaster, for being too vague. The Dionysian itself refers to the Greek God of wine, ecstasy and drama, and is used in philosophy to refer to the “sensual, spontaneous and emotional aspects of human nature”, as opposed to the Apollonian, which refers those aspects which are “rational, ordered, and self-disciplined” (according to the Oxford American Dictionary). Mr Smith took the opportunity to read the relevant literature over a six-month period before commencing, and even spent six weeks in Britain at his own expense to gain a head start on the primary research. In his second year, he spent a further six weeks researching, and attended the Sixth International Conference on Music Since 1900 at Keele University, Staffordshire, England, where he presented a paper. The first six months of his project involved writing the Introduction. During this period, Mr Smith spent a great deal of time mastering the subtleties of academic language, as well as writing the literature review. After setting up his subject securely, he suddenly realise that he had not discussed the history of the Dionysian. With the help of Dr Lancaster, he found a clever way to link it in to his opening chapters. At first Mr Smith considered starting from Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tradgedy, but after further reading decided to broaden the scope far wider. It now considers the Dionysian from the Ancient Greeks, through the Renaissance with a focus on Shakespeare, to the Picturesque, Wagner, Nietzsche, 19th century visual art, Freud, Darwin and more! Mr Smith also provides an argument, stating that these philosophical approach is still valid in the 21st century, drawing on widely disseminated social texts. As an interesting side-note, this section includes the following definition of tabloid journalism: “text in printed or electronic form intended for mass consumption”. The chapter
ends with the questions of why composers of the 1920s and 1930s incorporated elements of African-American and LatinAmerican music into their scores, and what the social meaning of that. Mr Smith believes this chapter to be his magnum opus. After asking Mr Smith if he intended to write a book based on his thesis, he replied resolutely in the negative. After completing his PhD, he intends to return to accompanying and being the “bad political theatre composer”. While stating that he has enjoyed the experience, he sees no future in research stating that he does not want to live out his days applying for Australian Research Council grants every nine months. “There are places to go, and people to play with”. In my preliminary reading for the interview, I thought that the scores to many of Lambert’s ballets had been lost. However, Mr Smith informed me that William Todd Hoehn (whose PhD “The ballet music of Constant Lambert: a study of collaboration in dance” was submitted in 1981) discovered that Oxford University Press possessed the original score of Horoscope which had been considered lost since the Second World War. When Sadler’s Wells Ballet (Now the Royal Ballet) visited Holland in 1940, it was forced to leave its scores behind as it fled the Nazi invasion. Mr Smith explained to me that Lambert composed his first ballet at the age of twenty, commissioned by no less than Sergey Diaghilev. It is interesting to note that although 1905 saw the birth of three major English composers, they all became popular in different decades: Lambert in the 1920s, Alan Rawsthorne in the 1940s, and Michael Tippett in the 1960s. The 1920s were the high point of Lambert’s career: after The Rio Grande it was all downhill. His Second Ballet premiered in Buenos Aries, and Mr Smith expressed a keen desire to know what sort of music he would have heard there. I then asked him about the Jazz issue in Lambert’s music. Mr Smith described the origins of Jazz in New Orleans as not being a purely African-American phenomenon, but as also displaying Caribbean and Spanish connections. It is incredibly hard to track down the points of contact between Lambert and these other styles. Mr Smith’s findings are likely to state that Constant Lambert was a cosmopolitan, who tended to assimilate any music he came in contact with, excepting of course German music. I found this point rather interesting, and asked Mr Smith to explain further. Lambert didn’t like Wagner or Richard Strauss, and did not conduct Brahms. He also only liked the even numbered Symphonies of Beethoven. It was mainly an issue of solemnity and heaviness. Mr Smith declined to speculate if this was somehow a political matter, given the attitudes of the British to the Germans in the 1920s and 1930s. It is important also to realise that the primary influences on the Royal Schools of Music were the German models venerated through the Canon. Throughout Music Ho!, Mr Smith informs me, Lambert is wanting to see music in its political and economic context. He spends a great deal of time discussing folk music and its influence on composition. I then asked Mr Smith about the predominance of theatre music amongst Lambert’s oeuvre. Mr
9 Smith simply replied that Lambert was writing for money to live, and that he probably said yes to any work opportunities. He also worked better in collaboration, and having a dramatic or textural idea allowed him to write better music. Indeed Mr Smith’s emphasis on Drama in his thesis raised Dr Lancaster’s eyebrows. Mr Smith’s analytical approach is going to be mainly focussed on form, which is a topic Lambert discusses in detail in Music Ho!. Mr Smith says to look at the subtitle of the book “A study of music in decline”. Lambert argues that all the approaches to composition since the war are not going anywhere. Nationalism was dead, neo-classicism is a dead end, the Second Viennese School is writing music to please themselves and exoticism is not the answer. He singles out Sibelius as the way forward, being honest and experiential music, rather than music which conforms to an artificial structure – truly Dionysian. In a later edition he also bestows slight honours upon the Violin Concerto of Berg and the later music of Bartók. Mr Smith will investigate Ballet movements to uncover Dionysian elements, which he has described as syncopation, extreme orchestration, unexpected structures, amongst other concepts. On the whole, Mr Smith was surprised to be accepted as a PhD candidate. He was in doubt that the board would consider a “minor composer” worthy of a grant. I asked the big question: is Lambert’s music neglected justly? Mr Smith said that the works deserve to be heard more. Each of the works explores new territory, for example the Concerto for Piano and Nine Players (Percussion, three clarinets including Eb and bass, trumpet, trombone, cello, double bass and flute). He would often cherry pick instruments for a particular sound he wanted (The other Piano Concerto including strings, two trumpets and timpani also comes to mind). After playing Lambert’s Music for Orchestra in Graduate Seminar, a member of staff remarked that “that could have been written by any contemporaneous British composer”. Mr Smith defends that Lambert greatest strength was inserting extra musical lines into a form that was full enough already (indeed, he criticised Britten’s apparent homophony). To close, Mr Smith states that the Joy of Lambert is that his music seems like real life, as opposed to an idealised escape into a pure form.
Anthony Smith playing Lambert in concert photograph: Jess Donohue
Constant Lambert source: www.artsjournal.com
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Events Guide
Wednesday 1st September Marcela Fiorillo Studio Recital Wesley Music Centre 12:40pm Advanced piano students from a prominent local teacher. $2 at door ph: 6232 7248 Thursday 2nd September Capella Corelli “Lo Stile Fantastico” University House 6pm Cynthia O’Brien (violin), Ruth Wilkinson (recorders and viola da gamba) and John O’Donnell (harpsichord) present a concert of 17th century Italian music. $40/$30 bookings essential ph: 6282 7183 Dido and Aeneas & Bastien und Bastienne St Philip’s O’Connor 7:30pm CAMRA presents Henry Purcell’s Masterpiece along with one of Mozart’s earliest operas $25/$20 http://www.camra.asn.au/ Friday 3rd September Canberra Youth Orchestra 3 Llewellyn Hall 7pm Walton’s Viola concerto with soloist Hannah Donohoe, and Shostakovich’s Sixth Symphony. $15/$8.50 http://www.ticketek.com.au/ ph: 132 189 Andrea Keller Quartet Band Room 8pm Eugene Ball (trumpet), Ian Whitehurst (tenor sax), Joe Talia (drums) and Andrea Keller (piano) joined by John Mackey, James Greening, Eric Ajaye and Miroslav Bukovsky as well as an ANU string quartet. $20/$15/$10 tickets at door ph: 6125 5700 Saturday 4th September The Resonants: “Songs of Hope, Faith, Life, Love” University House 7:30pm Local choral group perform works from Monterverdi to Whitacre $25/$20 Tickets at door
Do you have a concert or other event coming up? Let us know so we can add it to the online calender and events guide
Strange Weather Heralds Spring Hughes Baptist Church 7:30pm Local gospel choir presents brand new repertoire $24/$20 www.thestreet.org.au ph: 6247 1223 Dido and Aeneas & Bastien und Bastienne
St Philip’s O’Connor 7:30pm See entry Thursday 2nd September Sunday 5th September Vienna: Gateway to the Classics RR3 3pm Sonia Anfiloff (Soprano) and Ben Connor (Baritone) are joined by pianist Stephen Delaney. $20/$15/$10 ph: 6125 5700 Tuesday 7th September Halcyon “Where the Heart Is” Llewellyn Hall 7:30pm Contemporary Australian chamber music including works by Ross Edwards, Anne Boyd, Mary Finsterer, Graham Hair and Ruth Lee Martin. $25/$25/$10 http://www.ticketek.com.au/ ph: 132 189 Reuben Lewis Quintet The Gods Cafe 8pm Led by trumpeter Reuben Lewis, comprising some of Canberra’s finest young musicians including Max Williams (tenor sax), Matthew Lustri (guitar), Chris Pound (bass) and Aidan Lowe (drums) $18/$12 ph: 6248 5538 Friday 10th September Guitar and Violin Concert Wesley Music Centre 7:30pm Featuring New Zealand Duo John Couch (guitar) and Judith Hickel (Violin). $20/$15 tickets at door http://www.classicalguitarcanberra.org. au/ ph: 0403 640 669 Saturday 11th September Frühling, ja du bist’s! Wesley Music Centre 3pm With Rachael Duncan (Soprano) and Penelope Cashman (piano) performing songs of Schubert, Schumann, Fauré and Brahms. $25/$20/$15 tickets at door http://www.classicalguitarcanberra.org. au/ ph: 6254 1905 Tuesday 14th September Music at Lunchtime: Clarinets University House 12:30pm Includes light lunch and wines. $20.50/$18.50 ph: 6125 5700 Wedensday 15th September Wednesday Lunchtime Live Wesley Music Centre 12:40pm
Sophia Mitchell (mezzo) and Kerry Nicholson (soprano) perform operatic arias and duets accompanied by Anthony Smith $2 at door ph: 6232 7248 Thursday 16th September Schumann Lieder Recital Llewellyn Hall 7:30pm Featuring Louise Page and Christina Wilson, accompanied by Alan Hicks and Phillipa Candy $35/$30/$20 http://www.ticketek.com.au/ ph: 132 189 Saturday 18th September Llewellyn Choir Llewellyn Hall 7:30pm Brahms German Requiem Excerpts from: Bach’s B minor Mass Mendelssohn’s Elijah http://www.llewellynchoir.org.au/ Sunday 19th September The Complete Bach Keyboard Llewellyn Hall 1pm As Arnan Wiesel’s Bach series comes to its conclusion, he introduces the clavichord for the first time with the piano. $30/$25 limited seating ph: 6125 5700 Wednesday 22nd September Speak Percussion School of Music 7pm Celebrating their 10th birthday, the group presents new works focussed on the keyboard. $TBA ph: 6125 5700 Thursday 23nd September Oz Opera “La traviata” Canberra Theatre 7:30pm Opera Australia’s touring company presents Verdi’s popular opera. $35-$75 http://www.canberratheatrecentre.com. au/ ph: 6275 2700 ANU Chamber Orchestra Band Room Conducted by renowned Hungarian string pedagogue Géza Szilvay $20/$15/free Friday 24th September Oz Opera “La traviata” Canberra Theatre 7:30pm See entry Thursday 23rd September. Saturday 25th September
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Australian Chamber Orchestra “Viennese Master” Llewellyn Hall 8pm Featuring works of Beethoven, Brahms and Schubert $35-$88 http://www.ticketek.com.au/ ph: 132 189 Oz Opera “La traviata” Canberra Theatre 7:30pm See entry Thursday 23rd September.
Venue Information: Llewellyn Hall, RR3, Band Room ANU School of Music William Herbert Place (off Childers Street) Acton http://music.anu.edu.au/ ph: 6125 5700 University House The Australian National University Cnr Balmain Cr & Liversidge St Acton http://www.anu.edu.au/unihouse/ ph. 6125 5211 Street Theatre (Street One and Street Two) Corner Childers Street and University Avenue Canberra City http://www.thestreet.org.au/ ph: 6247 1519 Wesley Music Centre and Church National Circuit Forrest http://www.wesleycanberra.org.au/ ph: 6295 3680 St Philip’s Church O’Connor Corner Macpherson and Moorhouse Streets O’Connor http://www.stphilipsoconnor.org.au/ Canberra Theatre and Playhouse Civic Square, London Circuit Canberra City http://www.canberratheatrecentre.com. au/ ph: 6275 2700
For more upcoming events, see http://music.anu.edu.au/events
SOM Times Issue No. 2, August 2010 www.somtimes.info Editorial Team: Executive Editor - Julian Hunt editor@somtimes.info Research Editor - Alexander O’Sullivan research@somtimes.info Jazz Editor - Andrew Kimber jazz@somtimes.info Contributors: - Elizabeth Collier Teresa Neeman Producer
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Julian Hunt
Sponsors & Partners
SOM Times would like to thank the ANU School of Music for its ongoing support of the project
http://music.anu.edu.au/