Dialogue: Final ANAM Recital

Program
RUTH CRAWFORD 9 Preludes for piano
MICHAEL WILLIAMS Dialogue for oud, duduk, piano, and electronics*
JAKUB JANKOWSKI Aspects of Return for cello and piano ft. David Moran

*world premiere

Written in the 1920s, the Ultra-Modernist/Scriabin-Esque 9 Preludes by Ruth Crawford have been overlooked by history. Critics of the time said she can “sling dissonances as mean as any of them,” referring to the male-dominated field of composition in early 20th Century America. Ruth Crawford is a trailblazer who deserves recognition and I’m excited to perform this work in what most likely is an Australian premiere.

New Zealand composer Michael F Williams experiments with combining sound-worlds in his new work Dialogue. This cross-cultural exploration features audio samples of the Duduk and Oud, two Middle Eastern instruments that engage in a dialogue with the piano. Mike is a lecturer at the University of Waikato where we first met, and this piece is the beginning of a larger project which explores the combination of piano and non-western instruments through new compositions.

To round out this programme I’ll be joined on stage with Cellist David Moran and I couldn’t think of a better way to leave ANAM! Each movement in Jakub Jankowski – Composer‘s work Aspects of Return illustrates a different metaphor of return and is supplemented with a specific quotation.

I. Prologue: ‘…there is always the danger that the things we have neglected will return with added force.’ – Carl Jung
II. Nocturne: ‘Ever-newer waters flow on those who step into the same rivers.’ – Heraclitus of Ephesus
III. Capriccio: ‘And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.’ – T.S. Eliot