Move Records Australian classical & art music, est. 1968

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.

Michael Kieran Harvey piano
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
Nigel Westlake composer
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

Photograph of Michael Kieran Harvey

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

Audio preview tracks for this release; use the play buttons or row links to play.

Tracks

    Piano Sonata No. 1 Nigel Westlake

  1. Fast 5:31
  2. Slow 5:37
  3. Very fast 3:54
  4. Sonata for Piano, Mechanical Mirrors Lawrence Whiffin

  5. Allegro moderato ma con fuoco 5:04
  6. Adagio 5:17
  7. Turbulent 2:50
  8. Tempo di marcia moderato 3:18
  9. The Promise of Water Kate Tempany

  10. Cantabile 3:05
  11. Boulders 2:18
  12. Widening ripples 3:14
  13. Negra I for piano solo Tim Dargaville

  14. Dynamic 2:56
  15. Still 4:07
  16. Quick 6:05
  17. Still 6:09
  18. Pink Nautilus Michael Kieran Harvey 3:29
  19. Rash Carl Vine 3:18
  20. Rabid Bay Kate Neal 9:49

Performers

Composers

Photograph of Tim Dargaville

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.

Photograph of Kate Neal

Kate Neal

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

Photograph of Kate Tempany

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.

Photograph of Carl Vine by photographer Keith Saunders

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.

Photograph of Nigel Westlake

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.

Photograph of Lawrence Whiffin

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
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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