Music for Strings

String orchestra music from Wolf-Ferrari and Grieg to Britten, Grainger and living Australian voices. Gerald Gentry leads the Southern Cross Philharmonia, with Amir Farid at the piano in Grainger’s clog-dance romp.

Amir Farid piano
Gerald Gentry conductor
Southern Cross Philharmonia orchestra

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari composer
Jesmond Grixti composer
George Dreyfus composer
Benjamin Britten composer
Percy Grainger composer
Roger Rooman composer
Edvard Grieg composer

Recorded at Melba Hall, the programme pairs familiar suite writing with rarer Australian scores. Wolf-Ferrari’s student Serenade for strings opens in a Mozartian vein. Jesmond Grixti’s Angelica, preghiera senza parole looks back to Maltese sacred roots, while George Dreyfus’s Lighthouse honours Weary Dunlop.

Britten’s Simple Symphony reworks childhood themes with sly colour. Grainger’s Handel in the Strand brings piano and strings into clog-dance high spirits, and Roger Rooman’s Arioso in Alto (Skybridge) floats as a solar nocturne between larger edifices. Grieg’s Holberg Suite closes in eighteenth-century dance forms, written for Holberg’s bicentenary.

The real value of your contribution is difficult to express in words as it extends beyond anything that any other Australian orchestra is willing to do for Australian composers. Getting the opportunity to listen to your own music is not only an integral part of growing as an artist, but is also at the essence of artistic life. If the music of today is not performed, how can we build on the music of tomorrow? Your support therefore holds an honourable position in our society and should be applauded by all.

— Andrián Pertout

Reviews

Veteran English conductor, Gerald Gentry has been quietly fostering the talents within his Southern Cross Philharmonia, an ensemble largely dedicated to Australian music for string forces. A retired BBC Staff Conductor, Maestro Gentry has much to give these bright and gifted younger artists. A particular warmth and beauty of sound is encouraged: nothing is ever ugly or forced, a vocal quality pervades and as a former violist, this inner line is never very far from Gentry’s ear. As well, a formidable knowledge developed over a lifetime of 20th century composers and their work; personages such as Percy Grainger and Ralph Vaughan Williams are introduced as old friends.

— David Barmby

Artists

Amir Farid

Amir Farid has been described as a highly creative musician – a pianist of great intelligence and integrity who brings strong musical substance to all that he does, imbuing it with his own experience and understanding, and who distinguishes himself for all the right reasons.

Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari

Gerald Gentry

Gerald Gentry has been a tireless promoter of contemporary music regarding the work of present-day composers as a vital and essential element in a nation's musical life.

Jesmond Grixti

Southern Cross Philharmonia

Southern Cross Philharmonia was a fully professional orchestra established in Melbourne in 2005 as a not-for-profit organisation. It championed past and present Australian music within a framework of international repertoire, and was directed by the late Gerald Gentry.

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.

Benjamin Britten

Edward Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) was an English composer, conductor and pianist. His operas are firmly established in the international repertoire, and more of them are played worldwide than those of any other composer born in the twentieth century.

Percy Grainger

Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882–1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist. A brilliant folk-song collector and arranger, he was also a restless experimenter whose work ranged from tuneful percussion to Free Music machines that foreshadowed electronic synthesis.

Roger Rooman

Edvard Grieg

Edvard Grieg folds Norwegian folk song and dance into Romantic chamber and orchestral music: cello and violin sonatas of sudden lyricism and driving motifs, glowing Lyric Pieces and Elegiac Melodies, and the Peer Gynt suites that still colour how the north sounds.

Tracks

Serenade for strings (1883c) Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari

i. Allegro 5:50
ii. Andante 6:41
iii. Presto 3:03
iv. Finale 6:05
Angelica, preghiera senza parole (2008) Jesmond Grixti 3:45
Lighthouse (1993) George Dreyfus 4:06

Simple Symphony, Op. 4 (1937) Benjamin Britten

i. Boisterous bourrée: Allegro ritmico 3:19
ii. Playful pizzicato: Presto possibile pizzicato sempre 3:10
iii. Sentimental sarabande: Poco lento e pesante 7:38
iv. Frolicsome finale: Prestissimo con fuoco 3:28
Handel in the Strand for piano and string orchestra (1911) Percy Grainger 4:47
Arioso in Alto (Skybridge) (1992) Roger Rooman 5:29

Holberg Suite, Op. 40 (1884) Edvard Grieg

i. Praeludium: Allegro vivace 2:48
ii. Sarabande: Andante 4:26
iii. Gavotte: Allegro 3:21
iv. Air: Andante religioso 5:41
v. Rigaudon: Allegro con brio 4:26

Performers

Where to listen

Music for Strings is available for streaming through Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.

Music for Strings 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: MCD 446
List price: $25.00 AUD
Total playing time: 78 minutes 3 seconds
Release date: 2011
Category: Classical
Genres: Orchestral & Concerto, Romantic & Impressionist
Barcode: EAN 9314574044621

Related recordings