Listen & tracks
1 of 12 tracks have a preview · 8 works · 58:46
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SonataMeta Overman 3 movements9:46
- 1 i. Allegro con moto 2:51
- 2 ii. Lento intensivo 3:09
- 3 iii. Theme and variations 3:46
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4 Stick Dance Andrew Schultz 6:57
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5 Dream Tracks Peter Sculthorpe 14:16
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6 Whirligig Gerald Glynn 3:12
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7 Gorlywhorl Gerald Glynn 4:58
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Towards the Still PointPeter Rankine 3 movements10:21
- 8 i. The Dance 2:32
- 9 ii. Neither from nor towards 1:17
- 10 iii. Still and moving … only through time … 6:32
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11 Twist Gerard Brophy 2:50
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12 bisous Gerard Brophy 6:26
The programme ranges from Meta Overman’s neo-classical Sonata and Andrew Schultz’s ritual Stick Dance to Gerald Glynn’s paired solos Whirligig and Gorlywhorl, Gerard Brophy’s Twist and languorous bisous, Peter Rankine’s three-movement Towards the Still Point, and Peter Sculthorpe’s landscape-inspired Dream Tracks.
Recorded in the Nickson Room at The University of Queensland in December 1995, the disc pairs chamber works with solo clarinet pieces by Overman, Schultz, Sculthorpe, Glynn, Rankine and Brophy.
In the artist’s words
Since 1988 I have written a series of works inspired by Kakadu National Park, in the north of Australia. Some of these works have melodic material in common, the contours of each line usually being transformed in some way, both within pieces and in successive pieces. I have come to regard these melodies as ‘songlines’ or ‘dreaming tracks’. These are names used to describe the labyrinth of invisible pathways that, according to Aboriginal belief, are created by the totemic ancestors of all species as they sing the world into existence.
Dream Tracks, then, sets out to summon up the spirit of a northern Australian landscape. The work is in four sections: Lontano; Molto sostenuto; Lontano; Estatico. The first section takes as its point of departure the contours of a Torres Strait Island children’s song. This serves as an introduction to the second section, which is based upon an Arnhem Land chant, Djilile, or ‘whistling-duck on a billabong’. The third section is an extension of the first, its melodic contours also appearing in the fourth section. In this final section, however, Djilile is ever-present, both in a much-transformed guise and in its original form. I have dedicated Dream Tracks to the Verdehr Trio.
These pieces were written for the Klarinettenduo of Cologne, David Smeyers and Beate Zelinsky. Whirligig, for clarinet in B flat, was composed in 1983, and Gorlywhorl, for clarinet in A, in 1984. The pieces are thematically related and are intended to be performed as a pair; they may, however, be played separately.
My love affair with the cor anglais started at a very early age. In fact the sound of the cor is one of my earliest musical memories. However much, much later was I introduced to the bass clarinet but I quickly fell victim to its charms.
bisous is slow, languorous, gorgeous and extremely self-indulgent just as all ‘kisses’ should be.
Reviews
A great addition to any clarinet library!
Williams, with his sober but warm style, makes a strong case for music which one virtually never hears on disc, and seldom enough in live performance … this is an important recording and repays careful attention.
The playing throughout the disc is outstanding. The various ensembles perform well together, and Floyd Williams plays with a consistently fluid, beautiful tone and with impeccable accuracy and intonation.
may be the best Australian composition for this combination that I have heard.
Artists
Floyd Williams
clarinet, bass clarinet
Floyd Williams is Senior Lecturer in Clarinet at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, Brisbane. He has performed worldwide as principal and solo clarinettist and is a leading teacher of the instrument.
Gerard Brophy
composer
Gerard Brophy is a contemporary Australian composer whose colourful, rhythmically alert scores range from solo miniatures to orchestral works and have been heard widely at home and abroad.
Gerald Glynn
composer
Australian composer Gerald Glynn's music has been performed in France, the UK, West Germany and Austria. Actively interested in the music of non-Western Cultures, over the past 15 years he has travelled extensively in Asia, Latin America and Africa, pursuing this interest.
Meta Overman
composer
The output of Meta Overman is significant for she utilised 20th century European musical trends which many other Australian composers of her generation did not adopt. Overman's passion was music for the theatre for which she composed about eleven one-act operas and four ballets.
Peter Rankine
composer
With a background in Celtic music, Peter Rankine's connection to the world of concert music was made in 1980 upon hearing Bartok's Fifth String Quartet. Freelancing since 1987, Rankine has fulfilled commissions for a variety of media including orchestras, chamber ensembles, solo works, theatre, dance and opera, composing for artists locally, interstate and abroad.
Andrew Schultz
composer
Andrew Schultz, a graduate of the Universities of Queensland and London, has received numerous awards and commissions for chamber, orchestral and vocal works, and is Emeritus Professor of Music at UNSW Sydney.
Peter Sculthorpe
composer
Peter Sculthorpe (1929–2014) was a Tasmanian-born composer whose orchestral and chamber music drew the Australian landscape, neighbouring Asian traditions and Indigenous materials into a clear, personal language. He wrote extensively for strings, piano and voice.
Digital booklet
Digital booklet Notes, texts and credits — read online or download the PDF Download the PDFPerformers
- Floyd Williams · clarinet, bass clarinet
- Stephen Emmerson · piano · tracks 1–5, 8 and 10
- David Montgomery · marimba · track 4
- Barry Davis · cor anglais · track 12
- Michele Walsh · violin · track 5
Technical credits
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Recording Engineer
David Spearritt
David Starr
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Mastering Engineer
David Neil
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Venue
The Nickson Room, Music Department, The University of Queensland
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Thanks to
Creative Australia
Details
- List price
- $25.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 58 minutes 46 seconds
- Release date
- 1 Jun 1996
- Categories
- Australian, Classical
- Musical work copyright
- © 1996 Floyd Williams
- Sound recording copyright
- ℗ 1996 Move Records
- Catalogue
- MD 3192
- EAN
- 9314574319224
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