Two new compositions have recently been completed, both of which were commissioned by Ars Musica Australis.
The first new piece is entitled The Metallic Violin, and uses as its inspiration the manic, wild and over-the-top electric guitar solos commonly found in varieties of heavy metal music. Also I am making reference to the title of [...]
This year’s Australian Festival of Chamber Music, held in Townsville in early July, looks to be an absolute cracker. Co-artistic director Chris Latham has organized a stellar cast of fantastic musicians - both national and international - playing a wonderful selection of music. I was lucky enough to attend last year’s festival and [...]
for brass ensemble size: 4.2.2.1 or 1.4.4.1 percussion (1 player) optional
duration: 4 minutes
Audio Excerpt: performance of piece by AURA ensemble from the University of Houston, cond. Rob Smith
Programme Notes
Siegfried Interlude No. 1 was commissioned by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for first performance at the launch of their 2000 Season. It uses themes from Wagner’s Siegfried (Acts 1 [...]
string quartet
duration: 16 minutes
Audio Excerpt
(one minute from the opening of the piece)
Programme Notes
Industrial Night Music was commissioned by Sandra Yates and Michael Skinner in memory of Michael’s father. One of the aspects of Michael’s father’s life was that he worked as an army engineer. This created a sense of resonance to me as I grew [...]
for string quartet with optional effects pedals and CD playback
or string quartet + didjeridu
duration: 25 minutes
Movements from this work may be performed separately or in different combinations: for example, the first, third and fifth movements would form a set called technologic 135.
Audio Excerpts (coming soon)
First movement:
Second movement:
Third movement:
Fourth movement:
Fifth movement:
Programme Notes
techno logic was written in [...]
for mezzo-soprano and guitar
duration: 11 minutes
Audio Excerpts
Programme Notes
Insects have been a fertile source of inspiration to some Australian composers, in particular Ross Edwards who has used the patterns of insect sounds within his compositions.
The two Insect Songs by Matthew Hindson take as their basis separate poems by Australian poets as their starting points.
The first movement, [...]