Listen & tracks

1 of 31 tracks have a preview · 13 works · 72:44

Ned Kelly BalladsGeorge Dreyfus 3 movements7:32
1. 1 Man in Iron 1:44
2. 2 Greta Lovesong 3:16
3. 3 The Kellys, Byrne and Hart 2:32
LifestyleGeorge Dreyfus 4 movements6:31
1. 4 Telephone 1:45
2. 5 Beach 1:31
3. 6 Chocolate 2:09
4. 7 Friendship 1:06
8 Rush George Dreyfus 2:12
9 In Memoriam Raoul Wallenberg George Dreyfus 7:40
Heidelberg 1890George Dreyfus 4 movements6:40
1. 10 Golden Summer; North Wind 2:08
2. 11 Feeding the Chickens 1:37
3. 12 The Departure of the SS Orient; Redfern Station 1:38
4. 13 The Flower Sellers 1:17
14 Homage à Victor Bruns George Dreyfus 2:38
15 Stant Litore Puppes George Dreyfus 3:54
Four Italian SongsGeorge Dreyfus 4 movements8:07
1. 16 Rondinella 2:29
2. 17 Ogni speranza 1:02
3. 18 Rimprovero 3:02
4. 19 Non m’aje da 1:34
20 New Gold Mountain George Dreyfus 3:06
21 Nullabor Hideout George Dreyfus 1:59
22 Quintet for Wind Instruments George Dreyfus 7:46
23 Odyssey for a Lone Bassoon George Dreyfus 8:44
24 Love Your Animal George Dreyfus 5:55

Opening with a spirited and moving account of the Ned Kelly Ballads by folk singer Broderick Smith, backed by four French horns and rhythm section, the disc gathers a wide span of Dreyfus’ styles.

The Four Italian Songs, written for the television series Waterfront and sung here by soprano Joanna Cole with pianist Len Vorster, show his easy command of Italian verismo colour. The Methodist Ladies’ College Senior Madrigal Group, directed by Jane Elton-Brown, give the unaccompanied choral suite Lifestyle, set to Roslyn Otzen’s texts on youthful ambition and dream.

In Homage à Victor Bruns three Melbourne Symphony Orchestra bassoonists are joined by a fourth, the composer himself, once a bassoonist in that orchestra, for a short neoclassical essay. By sharp contrast the Prism Wind Quintet play the Quintet for Wind Instruments, a pocket survey of 1960s Darmstadt technique.

Solo and duo works are no less vivid: Matthew Wilkie in Odyssey for a Lone Bassoon, Christopher Cook at the organ of St Peter’s Eastern Hill in Stant Litore Puppes, David Thomas and Robert Chamberlain in In Memoriam Raoul Wallenberg, and Marianne Collet-Stier with Almut Riemenschneider in the flute-and-soprano suite Heidelberg 1890.

Among the closing classics, the Australian Chinese Music Ensemble bring a Shanghai tea-house air to New Gold Mountain; the Melbourne Musicians under Frank Pam offer the RSPCA commission Love Your Animal; and the Band of the 5th Military District revive, yet again, the evergreen television theme Rush.

Reviews

full of the customary Dreyfus panache and is a tribute to the composer’s extraordinary ability

— Tony Way, The Age - Green Guide

the whole disc is a timely tribute to this tireless, greatly gifted musician.

— Clive O’Connell, The Age

Artists

George Dreyfus

bassoon

One of Australia's best-known composers, especially for the theme from the television series Rush, George Dreyfus was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany at Victorian Parliament House for services to music.

Tim Burstall

composer

Tim Burstall (1927–2004) was an English-born Australian film director, writer and producer. He also wrote the words for the ABC children’s puppet series The Adventures of Sebastian the Fox.