Rabid Bay
Michael Kieran Harvey is one of the foremost interpreters of contemporary piano music of his generation. This recording presents some of Australia's cutting-edge piano music – bold and experimental, but also increasingly lyrical.
Belinda Woods flute
Martin Mackerras clarinet
Ben Carr alto saxophone
Phil Bywater tenor saxophone
Adam Simmons baritone saxophone
David Melgaard trumpet
Cate Waugh horn
Dominic Harvey horn
Eric Budd trombone
John Gluyas trombone
Timothy Phillips conductor
Carl Vine backing
Lawrence Whiffin composer
Kate Tempany composer
Tim Dargaville composer
Michael Kieran Harvey composer
Carl Vine composer
Kate Neal composer
A champion of Australian music and himself a composer, he regularly commissions new work and has performed with the country's leading contemporary ensembles and orchestras.
The programme pairs Westlake's three-movement Piano Sonata No. 1 with Whiffin's continuous four-section Sonata for Piano, Mechanical Mirrors, Tempany's gestural The Promise of Water, and Dargaville's prize-winning Negra I, alongside Harvey's own Pink Nautilus, Vine's short piano-and-playback Rash, and Neal's big-band title work Rabid Bay.
I have developed close relationships with all the composers involved over the years. They represent an exciting younger generation of Australian composers. All are developing ways to address the question of fine art music and technology and acoustic instruments in this new century. They display an irresistible energy which in performance is communicated to a broad range of ages.
Reviews
In years to come, the current era may well be seen as a golden age for Australian piano composition .. For sheer virtuosity, and for bringing out the best in an entire generation of Australian composers, there are few who can match Harvey.
Cultural cringe should turn to awe after hearing this selection...It's a collection that shows off, but why shouldn't it? Both the performer and composers deserve to
Harvey's playing displays a mature beauty, both ragged and sublime, as these works are brought wonderfully to life. A superb Australian recording. Highly recommended.
Artist

Michael Kieran Harvey
Australian pianist and composer Dr Michael Kieran Harvey FAHA is among the foremost interpreters of contemporary piano music of his generation. A champion of Australian music, he regularly commissions new work and has performed with the country’s leading contemporary ensembles and orchestras.
Audio previews
Tracks
- Fast 5:31
- Slow 5:37
- Very fast 3:54
- Allegro moderato ma con fuoco 5:04
- Adagio 5:17
- Turbulent 2:50
- Tempo di marcia moderato 3:18
- Cantabile 3:05
- Boulders 2:18
- Widening ripples 3:14
- Dynamic 2:56
- Still 4:07
- Quick 6:05
- Still 6:09
- Pink Nautilus Michael Kieran Harvey 3:29
- Rash Carl Vine 3:18
- Rabid Bay Kate Neal 9:49
Piano Sonata No. 1 Nigel Westlake
Sonata for Piano, Mechanical Mirrors Lawrence Whiffin
The Promise of Water Kate Tempany
Negra I for piano solo Tim Dargaville
Performers
- Michael Kieran Harvey
- Belinda Woods · track 17
- Martin Mackerras · track 17
- Ben Carr · track 17
- Phil Bywater · track 17
- Adam Simmons · track 17
- David Melgaard · track 17
- Cate Waugh · horn · track 17
- Dominic Harvey · horn · track 17
- Eric Budd · track 17
- John Gluyas · track 17
- Timothy Phillips · track 17
- Carl Vine · backing · track 16
Composers

Tim Dargaville
Tim Dargaville's creative practice engages with diversity of experience - seeking the imaginative space where the familiar and the unexpected intertwine. His music is performed, recorded and broadcast nationally and internationally, receiving numerous awards. He was born in 1962.

Kate Neal
Kate studied Early Music (Recorder) and Composition at the Victorian College of the Arts with Mary Finsterer, Mark Pollard and Brenton Broadstock.

Kate Tempany
Kate Tempany was born in Echuca (Yorta Yorta: meeting of the waters) in 1967. Her work explores interconnections between our conscious experience and the varied ecosystems which sustain life. A tabla player, dholi and workshop artist, Tempany is fascinated by the power of rhythm to dissolve social boundaries and open up new ways of seeing and connecting.

Carl Vine
Carl Vine AO is one of Australia's best-known and most often performed composers, with an orchestral catalogue of eight symphonies and thirteen concertos. His piano music is played widely around the world, and recordings of his work appear on more than seventy albums across the major streaming services.

Nigel Westlake
Westlake has played in fusion bands and soundtrack sessions, with Australia’s leading instrumental groups, and as a soloist with orchestras and classical ensembles in Australia and in major cities worldwide, from London and Paris to Tokyo, Beijing and New York.

Lawrence Whiffin
Lawrence Whiffin (1930–2012) was a Melbourne-born composer, pianist and teacher. After years abroad he returned to Australia as Senior Tutor at La Trobe University, where teaching harmony and analysis also freed him to write more concert music.
Where to listen
Rabid Bay is available for streaming through Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.
Rabid Bay is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.
Product details
- Catalogue number
- MD 3288
- List price
- $25.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 76 minutes 1 seconds
- Recording Engineer
- Martin Wright
Vaughan McAlley - Editing Engineer
- Vaughan McAlley
- Mastering Engineer
- Martin Wright
- Venue
- Move Records Studio
- Thanks to
- Creative Australia
- Release date
- 2004
- Musical work
copyright - © 2004 Move Records
- Sound recording
copyright - ℗ 2004 Move Records
- Categories
- Australian, Classical, Keyboard
- Genres
- Contemporary Classical, Modernist Classical
- Barcode
- EAN 9314574328820
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