Listen & tracks
3 of 15 tracks have a preview · 10 works · 77:53
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1 My Prussian Blue Heart Danaë Killian i. for pianist, tarot cards and piano 2:41
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Drei KlavierstückeArnold Schoenberg 3 movements12:52
- 2 i. mäßige Viertel 3:44
- 3 ii. mäßige Achtel 6:44
- 4 iii. bewegte Achtel 2:24
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5 Möbius Howard Dillon for solo piano 8:40
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6 Asphyxed Christine McCombe 5:26
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7 My Prussian Blue Heart Danaë Killian ii. for pianist, tarot cards and piano 13:54
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8 The Seventh Centre Amelia Barden 2:01
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9 Birth Music Colin McKellar 9:12
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Two MindsGregers Brinch 4 movements15:20
- 10 i. Two Minds 4:06
- 11 ii. Reflective Intersections 4:07
- 12 iii. Homage 4:24
- 13 iv. Drought 2:43
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14 Sikinnis III Evan J Lawson 7:08
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15 My Prussian Blue Heart Danaë Killian iii. for pianist, tarot cards and piano :39
My Heart is a striking album by Naarm/Melbourne-based expressionist pianist Danaë Killian, weaving solo piano with spoken word, poetic improvisation, and tarot.
Inspired by German-Jewish Expressionist poet Else Lasker-Schüler’s 1911 novel Mein Herz, the album blurs boundaries between pianist and piano, poet and composer. Across its unfolding musical landscape, sound, text, and intuition coexist, creating an intensely personal listening experience.
At the centre of the album is Killian’s own My Prussian Blue Heart — an expressionist, text-based work for pianist, tarot cards, and piano. This is framed by vivid and characterful works from a close circle of composer colleagues and artistic kin: Evan J Lawson, Howard Dillon, Christine McCombe, Amelia Barden, Colin McKellar, Gregers Brinch, and Arnold Schoenberg, whose epoch-making Drei Klavierstücke, Op. 11 forms a historical and aesthetic touchstone for the programme.
The majority of composers featured on My Heart are based in Naarm/Melbourne, reflecting the album’s deep connection to a local contemporary music community, with the only exceptions being Danish composer Gregers Brinch and Arnold Schoenberg.
My Heart is presented as an immersive journey, designed to be experienced from beginning to end as a cohesive whole, while acknowledging the creative contributions of all the composers featured.
Reviews
It is always a pleasure to listen to Schoenberg. His Drei Klavierstücke were performed beautifully and without sheet music, demonstrating Killian’s expert familiarity, affinity, and deep understanding of Schoenberg’s works. Howard Dillon’s Möbius is a fast-flowing piece used gestures that relentlessly repeated and returned, always with slight deviations, until finally disintegrating. Christine McCombe’s Asphyxed contrasted with the previous work, starting with slow, haunting, and softly-played gestures, gradually moving towards sections with more intensity. Colin McKellar’s compositions often combine meticulous planning and structure with joyfulness and dance-like gestures. Killian’s stylish and elegant interpretation of McKellar’s Birth Music escorted the audience through the work’s thoughtful, complex motifs with ease and playfulness. Danish composer Gregers Brinch’s four-movement work Two Minds, was performed by Killian in a manner that revealed each section’s full gamut of emotions, tone colours, and dynamics, demonstrating further Killian’s enormous powers as a leading exponent of the atonal piano repertoire. Equally, her interpretation of Evan J Lawson’s Sikinnis 111 was masterful, conveying the work’s resonant textures, rhythmic complexities, and its underlying sense of melancholy. [from a review of the launch concert]
Artists
Danaë Killian
piano and spoken voice
Dr Danaë Killian is an Australian pianist whose poetry-infused performances are known for intense originality and expressive interpretive power. Her repertoire spans the complete solo piano music of the Expressionist Second Viennese School, major polyphonic Bach, and a wealth of Australian works.
Amelia Barden
composer
Originally a classical oboist, Amelia Barden performed in numerous ensembles in Australia and Europe before turning her attention to composition over 20 years ago. Her love of story and context led her to collaborate with artists working in contemporary dance, theatre, film and installation, and finally to focus on composing for screen.
Gregers Brinch
composer
Composer Gregers Brinch was born in Denmark. His music has been heard throughout Europe.
Howard Dillon
composer
Australian composer Howard Dillon's interests in composition extend to electro-acoustic music, sound installations, as well as more traditional instrumental composition, including composing for community and educational projects.
Evan J Lawson
composer
Evan J Lawson (he/they) is one of Australia’s leading queer artists, working at the forefront of contemporary culture as a composer, writer, curator, singer and conductor. Evan is a founding member and artistic director of interdisciplinary dance company-chamber orchestra Forest Collective.
Christine McCombe
composer
Christine McCombe is a Melbourne-based Australian composer whose chamber and electroacoustic works explore silence, time and space. Her music has been performed by leading ensembles and soloists in Australia and abroad.
Colin McKellar
composer
Colin McKellar has a strong background in the practice of poetry/painting and music. A turning point in musical influence came in his late teens, in the form of Experimental Free Jazz.
Arnold Schoenberg
composer
Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) was an Austrian-American modernist composer who pioneered atonality and twelve-tone composition. His methods reshaped harmony and musical coherence in the twentieth century.
Digital booklet
Digital booklet Notes, texts and credits — read online or download the PDF Download the PDFPerformers
- Danaë Killian · piano and spoken voice
Technical credits
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Recording Engineer
Martin Wright
Vaughan McAlley
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Editing Engineer
Vaughan McAlley
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Mastering Engineer
Martin Wright
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Venue
Move Records Studio
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Thanks to
Australian Cultural Fund
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Credit
Benjamin Briggs
Jeremy Scerri
Martin Wright
Mignon Killian
Details
- List price
- $25.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 77 minutes 53 seconds
- Release date
- 22 Jan 2026
- Categories
- Australian, Classical
- Musical work copyright
- © 2026 Danaë Killian
- Sound recording copyright
- ℗ 2026 Move Records
- Catalogue
- MCD 673
- EAN
- 8721465406764
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