It is extraordinary that the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has, for twenty years, commenced their season with a showcase of compositions by young emerging Australian composers. In Ben Northey’s opening address, he acknowledged the longstanding partnership of the Cybec Foundation whose philanthropic initiatives have established the 21st Century Australian Composers’ Program (assisting a staggering number of 79 composers in their careers), the Cybec Young Composer in Residence and the Cybec Assistant Conductor Fellowship. Tonight brought all the participants together in a concert that Northey dedicated to the memory of the late Roger Riordan AM, creator of the Foundation.
How to Grow Your Own Glacier, which opened the event, showed an intriguing orchestral response by 2019 Composer participant Melody Eötvös to the folk tale of Mongol tribes defending their lands against the conqueror Genghis Khan by accumulating active snow and ice to form barriers. “Growing a glacier” involved one concept of marrying male and female fragments in this process, giving some framework to contrasting musical elements. A dramatic opening chord with penetrating percussion, low-voiced strings and brass, led to sudden crescendos and eruptions on cymbals and brass over emphatic double bass percussive strikes. Further interludes and slow sections of harmonic ease saw solo instruments emerging in a lighter, spacious texture. Acceleration and freneticism led to a densely coloured triumphant finale.
Four World Premiers followed, with the new works from 2022 Cybec participants. Julia Potter described Stay Close as an expression of feelings emerging from personal growth and relationships, with her music containing “moments of tension, despair, strangeness … but also excitement, triumph and peacefulness”. Opening high sustained string notes established a sensitive and mildly edgy atmosphere, tremolo patterns glowed, lively repeated patterns on the piano led to a middle section of harmonious lyrical string melodies that contrasted with engaging syncopated xylophone solos. The good times! Most effective was a poignant oboe melody searching above plucked soft strings and repetitive high patterns on the piano giving connection in the overall picture. Fine colours grew from increasing numbers of brass and woodwind, which did outnumber the strings, but a closing of sensitive piano, horn and sustained high strings was most touching.
Christopher Healey’s music was inspired by a dark and strange fantasy novel by Ukrainian authors M & S Dyachenko – Vita Nostra: Our life (is brief). Chris spoke to us, sharing his love of Bach’s fugues as a student. This was evidenced in his very finely balanced and full orchestration, where admirable contrapuntal sections with prominent solo melodies and countermelodies skilfully and colourfully powered the work. Its beginning gave us a sense of a slowly evolving tone-poem, taking us through the underworld with steady walking pulse beats on low and muted brass. At times like an evocative film score, scurrying movement developed into defined sections of a short waltz and then a most exciting syncopated rhythmic parade where varied marching bands rallied forth each with their own themes. This was most exciting, buoyant and triumphant, and the closing colourful crescendo brought rousing and welcoming applause.
Naomi Dodd describes her “inspiration as being deeply connected to her emotional sensitivities … [ranging] from intensely passionate and colourful to gentle fragments echoing the ethereal”. Dawn ‘til Dusk, her impression of an autumn day in the Snowy Mountains, began with soft hues of sustained strings, with the instrumentation slowly augmenting with the sunrise as the flute and oboe emerged with pastorale like solos. Programmatic and pictorial, wild-life and nature came to life through a dance-like movement of a romantic waltz, and evening approached with extended cor anglais, cello and violin solos, all beautifully executed by our excellent MSO members. Having successfully written a variety of solo and chamber works, Dawn ‘til Dusk showed Naomi’s technical skills in producing an engaging, colourful and well-balanced orchestration.
Described as an avant-garde composer, Joseph Franklin has won an award for excellence in experimental music at the 2020 Art Music Awards. With Ben Northey as the evening’s MC, Joseph spoke of his drawing of conceptual and musical ideas from historical sources such as the colliery brass bands, his love for experimental sounds and for the bass. Slow introductory bars for You are meadow contained striking low timbres on piano, contrabassoon and double bass, with development into an active allegretto showing an almost Stravinsky-like bite and instrumental punctuations like crisp and variegated colourful hailstones. The music was made more exciting with a vibrant edge coming from close harmonies and small intervals between solo instruments, creating almost a refraction of sound with individual instruments close together in an intense space. Expressive overlapping solo glissandos added new timbres and expectations.
Lachlan Skipworth represented the alumni from Cybec 2017 with the final work, Afterglow, a mature and colourful exploration of shifting, rising, blending and merging orchestrations. Pizzicato strings were prominent in their contrast against long, sustained textures. Bassoon solos, soft dreamy bird-like voices from the piccolo and foreboding percussion and timpani rolls held our interest and curiosity. Final waves of small crescendos became one huge expansion of sound, until piano and harp chased each other upwards in a soft flurry of escaping patterns. Nicely different.
Holding all the new works together was the Cybec Assistant Conductor to the MSO, the authoritative and passionate conductor Carlo Antonioli, sharing this terrific celebration and exciting growth of Australian orchestral music.
Photo credit Laura Manariti
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Julie McErlain reviewed Cybec 21st Century Australian Composers’ Concert Showcase, presented by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at Deakin Edge, Federation Square, on January 28, 2023.
