Listen & tracks

3 of 9 tracks have a preview · 6 works · 50:08

Three Bilitis MovementsLyle Chan 3 movements13:49
1. 1 i. The Dancers of Mytilene 6:17
2. 2 ii. The Rains of Spring and Morning 7:02
3. 3 iii. To invoke Pan, god of the summer wind :30
4 Yuya Anne Boyd 6:57
5 Pass to us the cups with which sorrow is forgotten Chris Williams 10:08
6 Bat-Music Stephen Yates 7:41
Copenhagen ChristmasJessica Wells 2 movements7:25
1. 7 Nisse 2:42
2. 8 Hygge 4:43
9 Three by Three Sally Whitwell 4:08

Six Australian composers write for Crossley’s lower-voiced recorders with string quartet.

Lyle Chan’s Debussy-tinged Three Bilitis Movements opens the programme. Anne Boyd’s Noh-inspired Yuya follows, then Chris Williams’s meditation on a twelfth-century Spanish song. Stephen Yates contributes the dancelike Bat-Music, Jessica Wells the festive Copenhagen Christmas, and Sally Whitwell the Alice-inspired Three by Three.

Reviews

This fascinating, attractive disc from Australian recorder player Alicia Crossley and the Acacia Quartet brings together works by Australian composers of different generations, from Anne Boyd to Chris Williams. Crossley herself is one of our most hard-working and dedicated musicians: the Australian equivalent of Micaela Petri (the older Danish recorder player). The CD opens with Three Bilitis Moments by Lyle Chan. Chan revisits Debussyan impressionism through a contemporary vantage point that recognises the musical patterns of minimalism. The lyrical second piece (The Rains of Spring and Morning) is particularly beautiful. Anne Boyd's work Yuya takes its influence from Japanese Noh theatre, and has the tenor recorder imitate the shakuhachi (a Japanese bamboo flute) by playing around a Japanese scale, while the strings form a ritualistic chorus. Rising star Chris Williams has Crossley switch to the bass recorder for his piece, Pass to us the cups with which sorrow is forgotten, a meditation on a 12th Century Spanish song. Stephen Yates' Bat Music for alto recorder and quartet is, predictably, more up-tempo and dancelike, as is the first of the two movements of Copenhagen Christmas by Jessica Wells. The final work, Three by Three, is by Sally Whitwell who is also a talented pianist. Loosely inspired by Alice in Wonderland, its sections are all in triple time. The piece is notable for a delightfully mordant waltz at its centre. Each of these composers has a distinctive voice, and all the music is written with a sharp ear for texture. Crossley plays beautifully (and) The Acacia Quartet is terrific too, and sound is warm and well balanced. ★★★★★

— Phil Scott, Fish Fine Music

Muse, from Acacia Quartet and recorder virtuoso Alicia Crossley, is a tight and varied collection, fizzing with energy and unpredictable bite. Crossley specialises in the lower-voiced recorders, and the Acacia string quartet has found a handy niche working closely with composers – sometimes, but not always, Australian – deciphering the new. It is a great combination.

— Harriet Cunningham, Spectrum, Sydney Morning Herald

Artists

Alicia Crossley

tenor recorder, bass recorder, alto recorder, sopranino recorder

Alicia Crossley is one of Australia’s leading recorder players. She performs repertoire from Renaissance dance tunes to contemporary electro-acoustic works, with a particular interest in the bass recorder.

Acacia Quartet

ensemble

Founded in 2010, Acacia Quartet is an Australian string quartet known for versatile, inventive programmes and a strong commitment to new music. Its recordings have drawn national notice, including an APRA-AMCOS Art Music Award nomination.

Anne Boyd

composer

Anne Boyd enjoys a distinguished career as a composer and music educator. A graduate of the University of Sydney (BA Hons in Music, 1967) and the University of York (PhD in composition, 1972), she has shaped Australian musical life through both her writing and her teaching.

Lyle Chan

composer

Lyle Chan is an Australian composer known for cumulative works with only one composition per genre. His music often functions as diary or memoir, most fully in the long autobiographical string quartet known as the AIDS Memoir Quartet.

Jessica Wells

composer

Jessica Wells is an Australian composer and producer whose chamber writing for recorder ranges from festive character pieces to lively scores with electronics.

Sally Whitwell

composer

Sally Whitwell’s Three by Three turns Alice in Wonderland into triple-time dances for recorder and string quartet, with a delightfully mordant waltz at its centre. As pianist she partners Halcyon in the chamber songs of Andrew Schultz and Elliott Gyger.

Chris Williams

composer

Stephen Yates

composer

Stephen Yates (b. 1957) is a Sydney composer whose catalogue includes ballet scores and chamber works, among them music for lower-voiced recorders and strings.

Digital booklet

Digital booklet Notes, texts and credits — read online or download the PDF Download the PDF

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Compact disc

Buywell Music Australian Music Centre

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Performers

Alicia Crossley · tenor recorder, bass recorder, alto recorder, sopranino recorder
Acacia Quartet · ensemble
Lisa Stewart · violin
Myee Clohessy · violin
Stefan Duwe · viola
Anna Martin-Scrase · cello