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3 of 25 tracks have a preview · 5 works · 74:07

The School of Natural PhilosophyMartin Friedel 12 movements24:08
1. 1 The refraction of light :54
2. 2 Descartes’ space 1:52
3. 3 Gravitational attraction 2:07
4. 4 Interference pattern :40
5. 5 Brownian motion :43
6. 6 The ether rings 3:04
7. 7 Minkowski’s Weltlinie 2:11
8. 8 De Broglie’s wave :56
9. 9 The wave equation 3:36
10. 10 … and one of its solutions 3:43
11. 11 Heavy water 2:36
12. 12 Schrödinger’s cat 1:46
Transcendental concert studies on themes from the Australian poetsGraham Hair 3 movements12:53
1. 13 Under Aldebaran 4:16
2. 14 Wild cherries and honeycomb 5:41
3. 15 Dances and devilment and sunlit airs 2:56
Boyd PanelsDouglas Knehans 5 movements13:28
1. 16 Meditation at Pulpit Rock 2:59
2. 17 Crucifixion and rose 1:30
3. 18 Shoalhaven light 4:23
4. 19 The magic fish 2:12
5. 20 Black river 2:24
TripticoHilda Paredes 3 movements15:16
1. 21 Caligrama 5:23
2. 22 A contraluz 5:22
3. 23 Parábola 4:31
24 Coruscations Richard Meale 8:22

Friedel’s The School of Natural Philosophy turns discoveries from optics to quantum thought into brief piano studies. Graham Hair’s transcendental concert studies draw on Australian poets; Douglas Knehans’ Boyd Panels answer Bundanon and Arthur Boyd’s Shoalhaven images. Hilda Paredes’ Triptico and Harvey’s electronic arrangement of Richard Meale’s Coruscations close a programme of uncompromising new pianism.

In the artist’s words

All my life I have been fascinated by the interaction of science and art, especially with music. In an age where art music seems to have been relegated to the area of palliative care by “market forces”, the uncompromising approach of some composers still willing to embrace science and the natural world seems to me very much in the spirit of the Enlightenment: to oppose the monolithic hegemonies of church, state and ideology, and instead fight for pluralism and individual freedom, to think for oneself, and to pursue one’s curiosity.

Martin Friedel is one such composer – a trained scientist, he is also one of the few Australian composers able to earn his living purely from composing. His School pieces are brief but compelling snapshots of discoveries unimaginable without the Enlightenment. Stars and our relationship to nature are the undercurrents of Graham Hair’s three extant transcendental etudes. Douglas Knehans’ Boyd Panels were written at Bundanon, and conjure up the stillness, diversity and playfulness of the natural world, so breathtakingly evident in the Shoalhaven area of New South Wales. The failure of the Biosphere project is a reminder of how reliant we are on millions of other species for our survival on Earth, and in Australia this species diversity is increasingly only possible through private oases like Bundanon. Surreal images of nature like Boyd’s crucified trees link in my mind to Paredes’ Triptico, where the Calligram, or beautiful symbol, could be the intricate equations of string theory, or A Contra Luz, against the light, could represent the bending of light by gravity.

This makes Coruscations an appropriate inclusion, especially as the recent explanation for the Auroras surrounding the earth are “magnetic reconnections”, the result of magnetic field lines colliding and releasing large amounts of kinetic energy towards earth. I grew up with an expectation of a lifetime pursuit of music which was propelled by the idea of the end of posterity. The awe-inspiring scale of such cosmic forces makes human hubris seem pitifully trite, yet makes human creativity and love seem all the more endearingly mysterious.

— Michael Kieran Harvey

Reviews

One of the few serious Australian musicians who continually challenges himself, Michael Kieran Harvey has here produced on Move Records a sterling display of his gifts for interpreting music of our time. Massive and crystalline in turn, the 24 tracks carve a path through difficult terrain that Harvey always contrives to make accessible.

— Clive O’Connell, The Age

Harvey has been building up a bit of a collection for himself, with impeccable performances of music with an intellectual rather than a romantic edge

— Phil Vendy, 2MBS Fine Music Magazine

Artists

Michael Kieran Harvey

piano

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.

Martin Friedel

composer

Martin Friedel (1945–2022) was an Australian composer whose work ranged from chamber opera and cantata to film and television. A trained scientist, he often drew themes from physics and natural philosophy into his music.

Graham Hair

composer

Born in Geelong, composer Graham Hair has received numerous commissions from such organisations as Duo Contemporain and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1990 he took up the position of Gardiner Professor at the University of Glasgow.

Douglas Knehans

composer

Douglas Knehans' works have been broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, as well as in USA and Italy. His music has been commissioned and performed by some of Australia and America's leading ensembles and soloists and he has been featured in two books on Australian music (A Handbook of Australian Music and A Companion to Music in Australia) as well as the International Who's Who in Music and Musicians Directory (UK)

Richard Meale

composer

Richard Meale (1932–2009) was a leading Australian composer of instrumental works and operas, and an influential teacher. Early scores introduced international avant-garde methods to Australian audiences; later music turned toward a frank lyric tonality.

Hilda Paredes

composer

Firmly established as one of the leading Mexican composers of her generation, Hilda Paredes has made her home in London since 1979 and her music is now performed widely around the world.

Digital booklet

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

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$25.00 AUD

Compact disc

Buywell Music Australian Music Centre

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Apple Music

Also available to download from the iTunes Store.

Performers

Michael Kieran Harvey · piano

Technical credits

Recording Engineer Martin Wright
Vaughan McAlley
Editing Engineer Vaughan McAlley
Mastering Engineer Martin Wright
Venue Move Records Studio (tracks 1–23)
Credit Arthur Boyd
Belinda Webster
Kanako Okamoto
Tony Hutchings

Details

List price: $25.00 AUD
Total playing time: 74 minutes 7 seconds
Release date: 2008
Categories: Australian, Classical, Keyboard
Genres: Contemporary Classical, Modernist Classical
Catalogue: MD 3324
EAN: 9314574332421

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