Listen & tracks

5 works · 55:36

Sonata for flute and piano (2019)Tom Henry 3 movements18:15
1. 1 The elements 6:09
2. 2 Inner worlds 5:03
3. 3 Introduction and finale 7:03
4 Sonatine for flute and piano (2019) Linda Verrier 11:37
5 Déjà Vu (1994) Johanna Selleck 7:42
6 Invention (V) (2021) Rohan Phillips 5:56
Sonata for flute and piano (1962)Miriam Hyde 3 movements12:06
1. 7 Allegro giocoso 3:55
2. 8 Andante Pastoral 4:38
3. 9 Allegro con spirito 3:33

In this collection are exciting new works by Tom Henry, whose compositions range from full orchestral scores to chamber and solo pieces. There are also new works from Canadian-born Australian resident Linda Verrier, and Melbourne-based Johanna Selleck’s Déjà Vu, both taking flute techniques to the edge of the instrument’s limitations. Rohan Phillips’s newly composed Invention (V) encapsulates the isolation felt during the COVID lockdowns. Rounding out the album, Jones turns back to Miriam Hyde’s 1962 Sonata for flute and piano, with its beautiful and lyrical slow movement – one of Jones’s all-time favourites.

Pianist Jerry Wong from the USA, and well-known Australian pianist Leigh Harrold, join Derek on this album. It was recorded at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music’s Ian Potter Southbank Centre between lockdowns, with just enough time to enter the building to complete this third album of Flute Perspectives in 2021.

Reviews

This third volume of Derek Jones’ Flute Perspectives series continues to shine a light on contemporary Australian flute works with a deliciously colourful programme. Opening the album with microtones and plucked piano strings, Tom Henry’s 2019 Sonata for flute and piano is a staple-in-waiting and sure to provide players with a new challenge that is both experimental and full of emotion, particularly the dramatic and yearning second movement which builds out of wispy multiphonics. Exciting displays of virtuosity are of course also present in a “breathless” presto in the closing movement which demands tight control of the fingers, which Jones here displays with an effortless fluidity. Throughout the album, Jones and his duo partners Jerry Wong and Leigh Harrold display a consistently tight ensemble, navigating challenging passages with ease and engaging in clear dialogue which is a treat to hear.

— Gavin Stewart, PAN

The first thing that strikes the listener in this new CD of Australian flute music is the rich, gorgeous tone of flautist Derek Jones and the elegant, and where appropriate, athletic pianism of both Jerry Wong and Leigh Harrold. The performers treat the works with utmost care and I am sure the composers were thrilled with the recordings.

— Alan Holley, classikON

Artists

Derek Jones

flute

Derek Jones has enjoyed an extensive performing career throughout Australia, Europe, the USA and Asia. Solo appearances include the Melbourne Symphony, the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the last of these taking him to Carnegie Hall, New York.

Tom Henry

composer

Tom Henry is an Australian composer of works for solo piano, organ, voice, choir, chamber ensemble and orchestra. His music has been performed in Australia, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Canada.

Miriam Hyde

composer

Miriam Hyde (1913–2005) was an Australian composer, pianist and teacher whose lyrical, post-romantic voice is especially known through her piano music and works for students.

Rohan Phillips

composer

Rohan Phillips is a composer and conductor living in Bendigo, Central Victoria. He has written for a range of instrumental and vocal forces and his works have been performed nationally by professional and amateur musicians.

Johanna Selleck

composer

Johanna Selleck is a composer, musicologist, and flautist. She holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne, where she is an honorary fellow. Her compositions have been performed by internationally renowned artists across Australia, Europe, the USA, Asia, and the Middle East.

Linda Verrier

composer

Linda Verrier was born in 1962 in Canada. She graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music, in Manchester, and has had her music played and recorded in the UK, US and Australia and broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).