Move 50
Twenty-four Australian composers mark Move Records’ fiftieth year with short new works gathered on this commemorative disc.
Michael Kieran Harvey piano
Christopher Young saxophone
Ron Nagorcka didjeridu
Lyndon Green tenor
Andrea Katz piano
Gabriella Smart piano
Stefan Cassomenos piano
Merlyn Quaife soprano
Benjamin Price saxophone
Peter Sheridan bass flute
Warren Burt electronics
Linda Kouvaras piano
Deviani Segal piano
Robert Schubert clarinet
Tom Fryer guitar
Ted Vining drums
Nick Heywood double bass
Lorraine Hook violin
Deborah Goodall violin
Gabby Halloran viola
Virginia Kable cello
Roger Heagney composer
Christopher Young composer
Kanako Okamoto composer
Vaughan McAlley composer
George Dreyfus composer
Ron Nagorcka composer
Andrea Keller composer
Michael Kieran Harvey composer
Brenton Broadstock composer
Christopher Willcock composer
Ros Bandt composer
Gordon Kerry composer
Michael Bertram composer
Eve Duncan composer
Don Kay composer
Kate Tempany composer
Paul Moulatlet composer
Andrián Pertout composer
Warren Burt composer
Simon Barber composer
Linda Kouvaras composer
Brendan Colbert composer
Julian Yu composer
The works vary in length, from Tony Gould’s delightful one-minute offering to an eight-minute bass-flute piece performed by Peter Sheridan. Other performers include Christopher Young, Ron Nagorcka, Lyndon Green, Merlyn Quaife, Andrea Katz, Gabriella Smart, Stefan Cassomenos, Benjamin Price, Warren Burt, Linda Kouvaras, Deviani Segal and Robert Schubert.
Fifteen of the works are performed by pianist Michael Kieran Harvey.
For fifty years Move Records has supported Australian classical and jazz composers and musicians. Move 50 is a landmark release: twenty-four Australian composers contributed mostly original works for the occasion, and the booklet carries brief commentary from each.
On the back cover a poetic tribute from Arjun von Caemmerer gathers some of the commitment the label has shown to Australian music.
The disc will appeal to listeners who value both standard and experimental classical and jazz writing. The range of talent and repertoire is wide.
Reviews
Music lovers are aware that by now contemporary music is no longer as 'difficult' or atonal as it became in the mid-late 20th century. Today, styles labeled (mainly for convenience) as post-impressionist or post-minimalist utilise tonal harmony, and are primarily studies in texture designed to delight the ear. There are many such pieces here. The bulk of the works are for solo piano, all performed with great sensitivity by Michael Kieran Harvey. If he is not the unsung hero of Australian music, he's definitely under-sung – but not by Move Records, who have produced over two dozen CDs with this remarkable composer/pianist. Harvey's own piece for prepared piano (Keen), marries musical argument to sonic experimentation. To close, we have a brief track from an earlier disc: Julian Yu's very witty variation on Happy Birthday for clarinet and string quartet. It strikes just the right note to end this terrific celebratory collection. ★★★★
In 2018, Move Records celebrated 50 years in operation, bringing Australian music to the forefront of its enterprises across the decades. I’m sure it hasn’t been plain sailing throughout every stretch of the journey and it can’t be a promising panorama if you survey the current recording scene where so much is available through so many different forms of media. As an appropriate observance of its half-century, the company produced this CD that comprises 24 tracks of works by Australian composers, ranging in length from the 59 seconds of Andrea Keller‘s Deep Blue to Paul Moulatlet‘s Dark Star which persists for 7′53″. Most of the performers are well-known names; ditto, the composers. Further, quite a number of the works have been specifically composed to honour the Move label and its milestone, with a few directed in praise of Martin Wright who was one of the original founders and has been a producer and engineer on countless Move products.
Australia's favourite homegrown label turns 50 with new birthday. 24 Australian composers were invited to contribute a short work, and this commemorative release is the result. Highlights include 'A Memory on the Move' by Ron Nagorcka, on which piano and didgeridoo intertwine to great effect. Ros Bandt's mysterious and evocative 'Mystic Morn' is an understated gem beautifully performed by Gabriella Smart. Soprano Merlyn Quaife gives a knock-out performance of 'Sonnet After John Keats' by Gordon Kerry. 'Postlude' is a wonderful inclusion of computer music from Warren Burt. 'Northcote Days' is a piano duet performed by the composer Linda Kouvaras with Deviani Segal that produces a series of dense, exuberant textures. The recording is rich and reverent ... 'Move 50' is a fascinating, historically informed snapshot of the artists that have been involved with Move and are still in a position to create new works. ★★★½
There is a veritable feast of music across the twenty-four tracks and it is impossible within a review to do justice to them all. Harvey’s Keen differs markedly from his previous compositions. Here the pitches stem from the letters B-A-C-H and are finally ‘resolved by a chord incorporating all twelve tones’ as with the subject of Bach’s 24th fugue in the Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1. The full and changing colour of each and every sound is allowed its own space and time as the intensity of the piece as a unified whole increases. There is an unsettled sense in this wailing, the slow pacing of the tones and the increasing loudness that is, however, in many ways resolved with the exuberance of the final arpeggio. Fabulous! Paul Moulatlet’s Dark Star written for bass flute and performed by Peter Sheridan ... providing freedom within the score for Sheridan to take his own creative path. There is a haunting sense of searching here, with great poignancy shaped in the openness and depth of tones available on the instrument. Sheridan’s technique and expressiveness are superb. There is so much more from Andrea Keller, Andrián Pertout, Tony Gould, Linda Kouvaras, Kanako Okamoto, Julian Yu and many others. This is an important CD celebrating Martin Wright’s collaboration with, and advocacy for remarkable Australian composers, some of whom may not have had such a forum for their work without Move Records.
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
- Heritage Tony Gould 1:09
- Noah Roger Heagney 2:03
- Pathways Christopher Young 2:05
- Bitter and Sweet Kanako Okamoto 3:17
- L-ove Records Vaughan McAlley 1:39
- Outbreak of Love Prelude George Dreyfus 3:21
- A Memory on the Move Ron Nagorcka 2:49
- Deep Blue Andrea Keller 1:02
- Keen Michael Kieran Harvey 4:40
- An Endless Ripple Brenton Broadstock 3:52
- Wisdom Christopher Willcock 3:27
- Mystic Morn Ros Bandt 2:33
- Sonnet after John Keats Gordon Kerry 4:52
- Iconoclast 2 Michael Bertram 2:04
- From a Star Afar Eve Duncan 1:31
- Milestone Tribute Don Kay 2:43
- Expansion – Heart Reflects the Sky Kate Tempany 4:35
- Dark Star Paul Moulatlet 7:59
- Saral Aavart Gati Andrián Pertout 5:34
- Postlude Warren Burt 3:07
- Interpolationen Simon Barber 4:16
- Northcote Days Linda Kouvaras 5:07
- Sisyphus Brendan Colbert 3:13
- Stepping Up Birthday Julian Yu 1:01
Performers
- Tony Gould · track 1
- Michael Kieran Harvey · tracks 2, 4–10, 14–17, 19, 21 and 23
- Christopher Young · track 3
- Ron Nagorcka · didjeridu · track 7
- Lyndon Green · track 11
- Andrea Katz · track 11
- Gabriella Smart · track 12
- Stefan Cassomenos · track 13
- Merlyn Quaife · track 13
- Benjamin Price · track 16
- Peter Sheridan · bass flute · track 18
- Warren Burt · electronics · track 20
- Linda Kouvaras · track 22
- Deviani Segal · track 22
- Robert Schubert · track 24
- Tom Fryer · track 3
- Ted Vining · track 3
- Nick Heywood · track 3
- Lorraine Hook · track 24
- Deborah Goodall · track 24
- Gabby Halloran · track 24
- Virginia Kable · track 24
Composers
Ros Bandt
Ros Bandt is an Australian composer, performer and sound artist whose work joins ancient instruments, environmental sound and live electronics in spatial music, installation and sound sculpture.
Simon Barber
Tasmanian born composer Simon Barber studied composition with Don Kay in the mid to late 90s at the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music in Hobart before relocating to Berlin in 2002.
Michael Bertram
Michael Bertram's early musical experience was in a cathedral choir, and later as a pianist. He started composing in the 1970s.
Brenton Broadstock
Brenton Broadstock is one of Australia’s most established, respected and successful mid-generation composers. Over several decades he has built a substantial, varied catalogue distinguished by expressive range, structural assurance and strong engagement with performers and audiences, nationally and internationally.
Warren Burt
Warren Burt has worked in academia, education and radio, and as a composer, filmmaker, video artist, writer and community-arts organiser. He has produced a large body of work for instruments, electronics, voice, video, theatre, prose and poetry, performed and shown in the USA, Australia, Europe and Japan.
Brendan Colbert
Brendan Colbert was born in Ballarat, Victoria, in 1956. After moving to Melbourne in the 1970s he worked with progressive-rock bands as keyboard player and songwriter, and in the 1980s studied composition with Brenton Broadstock and Riccardo Formosa.
George Dreyfus
One of Australia's best-known composers, especially for the theme from the television series Rush, George Dreyfus was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany at Victorian Parliament House for services to music.
Eve Duncan
Eve Duncan has composed chamber, orchestral and vocal music, with performances at festivals throughout Australia, Asia and Europe. Her catalogue ranges from intimate solo and ensemble pieces to larger vocal and orchestral scores.
Tony Gould
Pianist and composer Tony Gould is one of Australia’s most respected musicians. His career has spanned jazz and other improvisatory forms as well as traditional and contemporary classical, and for decades he has stood at the forefront of music education in Australia.
Roger Heagney
Roger Heagney has gained an international reputation as a pianist, harpsichordist, conductor and composer, giving recitals in Germany, France, England, Brunei and China, and appearing at festivals and on radio and television in Australia.
Don Kay
Don Kay (born 1933) is a Tasmanian classical composer whose work ranges from symphony, opera and concerto to chamber, choral, vocal and piano music, often shaped by the island’s landscape, ecology and history.
Andrea Keller
Andrea Keller is an Australian jazz pianist and composer based in Melbourne. A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, she is known for original ensemble writing and has won multiple ARIA Awards for Best Jazz Album.
Gordon Kerry
Gordon Kerry's music ranges from the symphonic through chamber music to choral music and opera. Australian orchestras, chamber ensembles, festivals and soloists commission him regularly, as do ensembles in the USA and Europe.
Linda Kouvaras
Linda Kouvaras is a pianist, composer and musicologist with a particular focus on contemporary Australian music. She has recorded, commissioned and premiered numerous new works for piano, and performs widely in city and regional centres.
Vaughan McAlley
Vaughan McAlley is a composer and arranger, alto and tenor, a capable flautist and French horn player, and the recording engineer behind countless Move releases.
Paul Moulatlet
Paul Moulatlet is a Melbourne-based Australian composer of contemporary chamber and electro-acoustic music. His works have been performed across Australia and in England, Italy, Norway and the USA.
Ron Nagorcka
Ron Nagorcka has a long-held interest in the sounds of the Australian bush, especially its birds, electronics in music, and just intonation. His nature recordings from Tasmania and arid mainland Australia provide the basis for many of his compositions.
Kanako Okamoto
Kanako Okamoto is rapidly gaining an international profile as an exciting and significant Japanese composer, writing piano music of lyrical power and clear formal design.
Andrián Pertout
Andrián Pertout (b. 1963) is a Chilean-born Australian composer who settled in Melbourne in 1972. His rigorously structured music draws on wide cultural and mathematical resources and has been performed in more than forty countries.
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.
Christopher Willcock
Christopher Willcock (born 1947) is an Australian Jesuit priest and composer of liturgical and concert music. His sacred writing ranges from congregational psalm settings to large-scale choral cycles.
Christopher Young
Christopher Young is a Melbourne woodwind player and composer whose work centres on bass clarinet, with clarinet, saxophones and flute. He leads the Christopher Young Quartet in exploratory jazz and improvised music.
Julian Yu
Julian Yu is a multi-award-winning Australian composer whose musical language is imbued with elegance and expressiveness, both enhanced by impeccable craft and a special attention to detail.
Contributors
Collaborator, concrete poetry
Arjun von Caemmerer
Dr Arjun von Caemmerer is a Hobart-based general medical practitioner, Iyengar Yoga teacher and practitioner, and writer. In 1995, with Naomi Cameron, he established The Hobart School of Iyengar Yoga.
Where to listen
Move 50 is available for streaming through Spotify and Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.
Move 50 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 3450
- List price
- $25.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 77 minutes 59 seconds
- Credit
- Arjun von Caemmerer
- Release date
- Mar 2019
- Musical work
copyright - © 2018 Move Records
- Sound recording
copyright - ℗ 2018 Move Records
- Categories
- Australian, Classical
- Genres
- Contemporary Classical, Experimental
- Barcode
- EAN 9314574345025
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