CDs ON THE JADE LABEL -
Featuring works by Derek Strahan & various Australian Composers
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Jade CDs are widely heard on national and fine music stations throughout Australia, and are recognised as a valuable resource by educational authorities as being uniquely representative of the work of Australian composers. They are manufactured in limited runs of 500 and stocks are therefore limited. Many of the distinctive Jade CD covers display stylish black & white photography by Nicolas van der Waarden.
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OTHER MUSIC BY DEREK STRAHAN ON CD
For biographical information on other Australian composers whose works are featured on Jade CDs, please visit the Australian Music Centre.
"DANGEROUS BY MOONLIGHT” JADCD 1102
Works by Roy Agnew, Robert Allworth, Eric gross, Ann Carr-Boyd, Ray Lemond, Derek Strahan . Duration: 44'53”
This CD presents a selection of works by Australian composers which is remarkably homogenous considering that the dates of composition range from 1927 to 2004. Though not all compositions were written under nocturnal influences, many of them maintain the crepuscular mood set by the title piece, Allworth's “Dangerous Moonlight” for solo piano, performed with conspiratorial understanding by Ray Lemond, who maintains melodic mysteries within the work's evocative harmonies. Lemond's own piece, “Midnight” takes pianism into the further reaches of the unfathomable. There is even an Allworth piece for mandolins titled “Twilight”, performed by the Sydney Mandolins who also give a sympathetic reading of “Epilogue for Stephen” Op.274 (2004) by Gross, who has written many fine pieces for this ensemble. Here he applies modernistic subtleties to this elegy on the premature passing of a young postgraduate scientist, who also maintained a love of music. Differing music styles for solo piano retain a reflective mood in Allworth's “Minnesota Dreaming”, Agnew's “An Autumn Morning” Gross's “Rondino Tranquillo” and Carr-Boyd's “A Day In Taralga”.
Three pieces provide contrasting vigour. “Klavierstuck II Op.127” by Gross is a work for solo piano of sustained invention of around 8 minutes' duration. Its material stems from “different thematic and rhythmic cells so as to provide an overall improvisatory effect”. Virtuoso pianist Simon Docking achieves an idiomatic and idiosyncratic performance. The CD closes with two short instrument duos written by Strahan in 1963, heard here in Midi Realisations. “Population Pressure” for Flute/Piccolo and guitar provides a musical metaphor for a “birth clock” whose relentless digital count “numbers each addition to our planet's population. “Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted” for clarinet and piano, is an exercise in perpetual motion, suggested by the surf at Bondi Beach – the title being the legend on a battered sign posted outside the crumbling apartment block where he then lived.
1. ROBERT ALLWORTH - "MINNESOTA DREAMING" (1993) 2'47". Ann Carr-Boyd - Piano
2. ROBERT ALLWORTH - "TWILIGHT" (1995) 2'43". The Sydney Mandolins: Adrian Hooper & Paul Hooper - Mandolins; Joyce Bootsma - Mandola; Barbara Hooper- Guitar; Michael Hooper - Bass Guitar. Directed by Adrian Hooper
3. ROBERT ALLWORTH - "DANGEROUS BY MOONLIGHT" (1993) 9'16". Ray Lemond - Piano
4. ROY AGNEW - "AN AUTUMN MORNING" (1927) 2) 5'33". Ray Lemond - Piano
5. RAY LEMOND - “MIDNIGHT” (1993) 2'53". Ray Lemond - Piano
6. ERIC GROSS - “KLAVIERSTUCK II” Op.127 (1982) 7'37". Simon Docking- Piano
7. ERIC GROSS - "RONDINO TRANQUlLLO" Op. 34 (1962) 4'15". Ray Lemond - Piano
8. ANN CARR-BOYD - "A DAY IN TARALGA (2003) 3'09". Ann Carr-Boyd - Piano
9. ERIC GROSS - "EPILOGUE FOR STEPHEN" 0p.274 (2004) 5'28". The Sydney Mandolins: Personnel as Track 2.
10. DEREK STRAHAN - "POPULATlON PRESSURE" for Flute/Piccolo & Guitar (1963) 2'37".
Midi Realisation - Derek Strahan
11. DEREK: STRAHAN - "TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED" (1963) for Clarinet & Piano 1'47" Midi Realisation - Derek Strahan
“PROCESSIONAL” JADCD 1101
Works by: Giovanni Palestrina, Robert Allworth, Geoffrey Allen, Eric Gross, Derek Strahan , Carson P. Cooman.
The CD opens with three organ works written and played by Carson P. Cooman on the organ of the Rochester Christian Reformed Church, Penfield , New York , USA . “Gallery Music: A Processional Fanfare” (2000), is imagined as a procession taking place within a huge “Gallery”, and is dedicated to Jane t & Arthur Perrin. “Twilight Undulation” (2001) is based on the plainsong Ad dominum dum tribularer clamavi, and written in memory of American composer Robert Starer. “Sunburst: A Recessional Fanfare” (2001) is dedicated to Robert Allworth. An effective musical montage follows alternating works by Palestrina and Allworth, as listed below, and performed respectively by Carson P. Cooman at the organ of the Memorial Church , Harvard University , Cambridge , Massachusetts , USA , and by the Choir of Christ Church St. Lawrence, Sydney, conducted by Colin Sapsford.
Secular works follow. “Serenatella” (1995) by Allen is a romantic piano piece dedicated to his wife. “Rondino Pastorale” (1962) and “Miniature for Ray” (1994) by Gross both feature the Sydney Mandolins. Strahan's “Ironical Rondo” for piano, was begun in 1953 when the composer was at school in Belfast , Northern Ireland , then laid aside to obey dictates to study languages for Cambridge Entrance, and finally revised and completed in 2003. It reflects Strahan's interest then, as now, in using elements of jazz in a formal classical structure. In its final form it includes, as a contrasting episode, a short lyric piece written in London in 1958, titled “Birgitta”, after an attractive brunette. The CD closes with the title track written by Gross in 1972 as a Wedding March, and a religious devotion for organ by Allworth.
1. CARSON P. COOMAN – GALLERY MUSIC: A PROCESSIONAL FANFARE (2000)
2. CARSON P. COOMAN – TWILIGHT UNDULATIONS (2001)
3. CARSON P. COOMAN – sunburst; a recessional fanfare (2001) Carson P. Cooman - organ, Rochester Christian Reformed Church, Penfield , New York , USA .
GIOVANNI PALESTRINA – MISSA AETERNA CHRISTI MUNERA (1571)
ROBERT ALLWORTH – VISIONS OF MARY IMMACULATE (1989)
4. KYRIE LEISON
5. MEDITATIONS OF ST. CATHERINE LABOURE OF THE MIRACULKOUS MEDAL
6. GLORIA IN EXCELSIS DEO
7. HYMN TO OUR LADY OF WALSINGHAM
8. SANCTUS 7 BENEDICTUS QUI VENIT
9. HYMN TO THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
10. AGNUS DEI
11. VISION OF LOURDES
12. GOSPEL PROCESSION – arranged from Saint-Saens Symphony No. 3 by Colin Sapsford.
Colin Sapsford, Organ, Christ Church St. Lawrence , Sydney.
13. GEOFFEREY ALLEN – SERENATELLA (1995-96) Sally Mays- piano
14. ERIC GROSS - RONDINO PASTORALE OP.33 (1962) – Sydney Mandolins, Michael Scott, flute
15. ERIC GROSS – MINIATURE FOR RAY 0P.196/A (1994) – Sydney Mandolins
16. DEREK STRAHAN - IRONICAL RONDO FOR PIANO (1953-2003) – Derek Strahan , Midi realisation
17. ERIC GROSS – PROCESSIONAL OP.21/1 91972) - Lawrence Bartlett, organ, Church of All Saints , Woollahra, Sydney
18. ROBERT ALLWORTH - THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRCIN MARY - Lawrence Bartlett, organ, St. Michael's, Vaucluse, Sydney
“MORNING BY AN OCEAN” JADCD 1100
Works by Robert Allworth, Betty Beath, Ann Carr-Boyd, Eric Gross, Ian Shanahan, Derek Strahan , Carson P. Cooman,. Duration: 69'48”
Five works for solo piano open this CD, beginning with the title track by Allworth and played by David Miller. Composed in 1987 and based on a 12-tone row, it employs chordal, contrapuntal and rhythmic devices to portray the ever-changing moods of the ocean. Shanahan's “153 Infinities” (1996), is played by Zubin Kanga. In his own words Shanahan “eschews mundane pulse and its obsession with piano-resonance and colours” to create “an ecstatic detachment from Time's unyielding flow”. Strahan's “Patriarchy” (1992) is extracted from his longer “Atlantis variations” and arises from the following pathology: “Law-maker, law-breaker, moral angst, phallic imperative, existential rage, scientific curiosity, religious fervour”. Sally Mays is then heard playing Allworth's “Reflections At Nightfall” (2002) and Gross's “Sallymede” (2002), is dedicated to the performer, and depicts aspects of the English countryside near where she now lives. Further solo piano works by Carr-Boyd,“Saturn” (1978), and Betty Beath, “Contrasts (1983), are also heard, played respectively by the composers.
Gross also contributes a suite of four mandolin duets titled “Paul and Adrian” (1989), after two brothers in the Hooper family who form the basis of a Plectrum ensemble “The Sydney Mandolins”. The work makes full use of many different techniques employed by mandolinists.
The CD closes with a segment of works for organ. Allworth's Suite in Honour of the 70 th birthday of Polish composer Henryk Gorecki is followed by two works written by US composer Carson P. Cooman and performed by him on the organ of the memorial Church, Harvard University , Cambridge , Massachusetts . USA . These are “Elegy” (2001) and “First-Light Prayer” (2003) composed as an 80th birthday gift for US composer David Pinkham
1. ROBERT ALLWORTH - MORNINC BY AN OCEAN (1987) David Miller - piano
2. IAN SHANAHAN -153 INFINITIE5 (199~) Zubin Kanga-piano
3. DEREK STRAHAN - PATRIARCHY (1992) Derek Strahan - piano
4. ROBERT' ALLWORTH REFLECTIONS AT NIGHTFALL (2002) – Sally Mays - piano
5. ERIC GROSS - SALLYMEDE 0P.262 (2002) – Sally Mays - piano
ERIC GROSS - PAUL AND ADRIAN (FOUR MANDOLIN DUETS) OP.165 (1989)
Michael Hooper and Paul Hooper, mandolins
6. PAUL I
7. ADRIAN I
8. ADRIAN II
9. PAUL II
10. ANNE CARR-BOYD - SATURN (1978) Anne Carr-Boyd – piano
ROB ERT ALLWORTH - SUITE IN HONOUR OF THE 70TH BIRTHDAY OF THE POLISH COMPOSER HENRYK GORECKI (2003)
11. PRELUDE FOR THE MOST SACRED HEART OF JESUS
12. PRELUDE FOR THE FEAST DAY OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY
13. PRELUDE FOR THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRCIN MARY
14. CARSON P. COOMAN - ELEGY (2001)
15. CARSON P. COOMAN - FIRST-LIGHT PRAYER (2003)
TRACKS 11 – 15 .Carson P. Cooman - organ, Memorial Church Harvard University Cambridge Massachusetts, USA.
16. BETTY BEATH - CONTRASTS (1983) Betty Beath -piano
Works by: Geoffrey
Allen, Robert Allworth, Eric Gross, Derek Strahan. Duration:
60'17"
"After The Rapture", Allen's 20-minute Suite for piano solo (2001) offers four contrasting movements written in reflective and elegant style, and which were composed while Allen (a publisher) was engaged in preparing a complete edition of the works of Australian composer Roy Agnew. The work is dedicated to Agnew's sister, Marjorie. Five movements follow from Allen's extensive work "Diversions" (1994) for oboe, clarinet & bassoon further reveal the composer's gift for melody and aptitude for counterpoint.
Three works for solo piano complete the CD. Allworth's "Autumn Reverie", played by David Miller, comprises five preludes in elegiac mood: Mosaics - Yellow - Gold - Grey - Green. "Pensive Prelude", composed & played by Gross, is a gentle, evocative piece requiring thoughtful use of the sustaining pedal.
In contrast, Strahan's "Atlantis Variations, Part 3" employs the resources of the piano to depict an asteroid strike on the Earth in 8,500 BC which terminated the Quaternary Age, brought on the Great Flood, and may have caused the sinking of Atlantis. This is one of several works developing material for a proposed 4-opera cycle on Atlantis.
Read about Strahan's Atlantis Variations for Solo Piano, Pt. 3
"AN AUSTRALIAN FESTIVAL" JADCD 1095
Works by: Tomas Luis de
Victoria, Robert Allworth, Carson P. Cooman, Lawrence
Bartlett, Derek Strahan, Ann Carr-Boyd. Eric Gross,
Duration: 64'09"
This CD displays a characteristic feature of Jade releases - a combination of sacred and secular music. The colourful cover illustration of St. George slaying a dragon, illustrates the opening 4'30" track by Allworth: "Prelude for the Most Holy Name of Jesus & Saint George & The Dragon" (1990) which is followed by Allworth's 6 Meditations of Early English Saints (1990). Both works are for organ and are given a vivid interpretation by US organist and composer, Carson P. Cooman, on the organ of the Harvard University Memorial Church. Two contrasting works by Cooman follow, "Tenebrae Canticle"(2001), exploring ideas of liturgical darkness, and the sprightly "Dawning", a birthday portrait for a friend. Two historical recordings made in 1979 at Sydney's Christ Church St. Lawrence capture the ambience of this location as Colin Sapsford directs the choir in settings by Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611) of "Missa O Magnum Mysterium" and a Good Friday Hymn. Bartlett's own "Ceremonial Te Deum" (1988) is heard, as sung by choir and organ at a special service of Morning Prayer, at St, Andrews Cathedral, Sydney, in the presence of the Prince and the late Princess of Wales, during the 1988 Bicentennial celebrations.
In secular mode, Gross contributes two works: "Rondino Pastorale" for flute and Plectrum Ensemble (1962), and Prefatory Sonnet (1984) one of 3 Songs for soprano or tenor, clarinet & piano, in this instance sung by Anthony Walker.
Strahan's Atlantis Variations for Solo Piano, Pt. 2, (1992) is one of several works developing material for a proposed 4-opera cycle on Atlantis, this one centred around the character of Calypso, a rebellious daughter of Atlas. The CD closes with Carr-Boyd attractive miniature for piano, "Maladies Of love" (1982).
Read about Strahan's Atlantis Variations for Solo Piano, Pt. 2
"I
REMEMBER" JADCD 1094
Works by: Eric Gross, Ann Carr-Boyd, Robert Allworth, Richard Austin, Derek Strahan. Duration: 70'18
One of the aims of the Jade label is to preserve Australian musical history by re-mastering and releasing significant recordings. The centrepiece of this release is a live recording made in Christ Church St. Lawrence, Sydney, at the Liturgy on Good Friday in 1979, sung to traditional plainchant with choruses by Tomas Luis de Victoria (1549-1611) by Charles Dale, Donald Haws and Brian Copeland with the Church choir conducted by Colin Sapsford. This is preceded by Allworth's "Times Remembered" for 3 oboes and two organ works by Eric Gross. The religious theme is also present in solo piano and organ works by Allworth, and No. 4 of Austin's Meditations (for piano) on the Ten Commandments.
Secular music is represented by Allworth's 3 piano solos titled after well-known TV soap operas, Carr-Boyd's jazzy piano piece "Carl's Motel Music", and 3 of Strahan's satirical songs for voice and guitar written for a Breakfast Show TV spot, and performed by the composer.
"AUBURN
SPLENDOUR" JADCD 1092
Works by: Carson P. Cooman, Robert Allworth, Eric Gross, Steve Clark, Ann Carr-Boyd, Betty Beath, Ian Shanahan, Derek Strahan. Duration: 66'16"
This is the third Jade CD featuring compositions by American composer and organist Carson P. Cooman along with works by Australian composers. The CD is dedicated to all people of New York and the USA who suffered on September 11 2001. The sound quality on this CD is exceptional. It opens with Allworth's 2001 work "Organ Preludes for Saint and Martyrs", a suite of 6 short pieces each being a portrait in music of a canonised historical figure. These are ably played by Cooman on the organ of the Memorial Church, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. On the same instrument Cooman plays his attractive meditation titled "Jesus Is The Sunlight" based on the hymn tune "Callahan" by American composer Alfred V Fedak.
Beath's "Mikri Thalassa (Little Sea")" was commissioned in 1993 by Adrian Hooper for the Sydney Mandolins. Its attractive sonorities were inspired by the spectacle of fisherman gathering sponges from the sea near the island of Kalymnos in the Dodecanese. Also composed for Hooper's Mandolin ensemble in 1985 is Eric Gross's very fine "Suite No. 1 for Plectrum Orchestra or Quintet" in four contrasting movements.
Shanahan's capacity for original invention in his own unique avant garde style is illustrated by two works: his contemplation on the Cosmos, "Zodiac: Crystal Orbit Improvisations"(1996), a mandalikon for amplified soprano recorder, MIDI wind instrument, and keyboard synthesizer; and the recent "Harmonia (in PP)" for tenor recorder and piano, written in memory of Professor Peter Platt. Steve Clark's "Phryg Magnet"(2001) for violin and piano is an appealing piece in the Phrygian musical mode.
Strahan himself is heard as singer, guitarist and harmonica player in four of his own "Songs of Peace, Love and Apprehension" chosen from material written and recorded during 1970/74, when he appeared in a weekly TV spot on the Channel 7 Breakfast Show and also at folk-song venues. The CD concludes with Carr-Body's short orchestral piece "Images of Australia"(1985) as performed by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
Strahan's four songs are also released on his new CD "Take Me To Your Leader", on the Revolve label, Revolve RDS004. Read liner notes for "Take Me To Your Leader". Audio files of these songs listed below.
Listen to "Mountain and Rain"
Listen to "Cain"
Listen to "It's All Happened Before"
"LINES OF LIGHT" JADCD 1091
Works by: Carson P. Cooman, Robert Allworth, Eric Gross, Ian Shanahan, Derek Strahan , Eric Gross. Duration: 76'06"
This is the second Jade CD featuring works by both American and Australian composers. Prolific US composer Carson P. Cooman, also a fine organist, again performs music by Allworth, his "Suite for organ (2001), Visions of Saint Catherine Laboure, St. Michael the Archangel", commissioned by the Roman Catholic Parish of St. Michael, Callas, New York, USA. Cooman plays three of his own organ works, "Gallery Music: A Processional Fanfare" (2000), "Twilight Undulations" & "Sunburst: A Recessional Fanfare" (2001). These works were all recorded in the USA, featuring the magnificent sonorities of the Organ of the Rochester Christian Reformed Church, Penfield, New York. Allworth also contributes three impressionist solo piano pieces written using serial techniques, depicting favourite harbourside locations in Sydney, Australia; and his impressive 13'00" "Cardboard Cantata" (2000) , written for mandolin ensemble with piano, after the title of a book by Prince Lorenzo Montesini.
The CD is named after Shanahan's "Lines of Light: Seven Improvisation on aitheros melos (Music of the Spheres)" (1991/1993), a work for amplified recorders, Yamaha DX7 keyboard synthesizers and percussion, performed respectively by the composer, Roger Dean and Daryl Pratt. In this strikingly original 11'10" work, Shanahan invokes the notion of solar spectra. Roger Dean also performs Shanahan's short and related solo piano piece, "Arc Of Light".
Strahan's "The Beethoven Boogie" (1982), a 9'00" joke for 8-piece jazz ensemble, including cello, satirizes the 80's "switched-on classics" pop fad, by adapting its style to an entire movement in strict sonata form. This piece is the last movement of Strahan's Jazz Fusion Suite, of which the first movement ,"Triple Six", was released on Jade CD "Fray" JADCD 1086, and the second movement, "Free Spirit", on Jade CD "Music For A Candlelight Dinner" JADCD 1058. In a similar spirit of whimsy, is Gross's lively "Sally in the Mallee" a short solo piece written for pianist Sally Mays, who requested something "a little bit crazy".
"AMERICAN
DREAM" JADCD 1090
Works by: Robert Allworth, Ann Carr-Boyd, Carson P. Cooman, Eric Gross, Ian Shanahan, Laurence Bartlett, Derek Strahan, Betty Beath, Mary Mageau. Duration: 69'01"
This is the first Jade CD featuring works by both American and Australian composers. Prolific US composer Carson P. Cooman, also a fine organist, performs two pieces written by Allworth in 2000 and dedicated to the memory of Oscar Wilde (A Dream of Decadence / Decay of Lying) as well as his own "Romanza For Organ" (2000), a meditative piece enriched by lush sonorities. The works were recorded in the USA and played on the Isham Memorial Organ (built 1967) in The Memorial Church, Harvard University. The title track, by Carr-Boyd (for flute & piano) was inspired by the composer's attendance in 1992 at a meeting at a large theatre in Hartford, Connecticut, held to commemorate Martin Luther King Day. Also for flute & piano is Strahan's "Et In Arcadia Ego" (1990), a Cantata from a larger work "Atlantis" (released on JADCD 1063, "Voodoo Fire"). This segment portrays a lovers' idyll on the balcony of a villa overlooking the ocean on a moonlit night in Atlantis.
Exciting counterpoint abounds in "Essay for Mandolin & Wind Quintet" (1996) by Gross and in his intriguing "Concertino for Button Accordion (Bayan) and Plectrum Ensemble" (2000). Allworth's "Study In Grey" for Mandolin and Wind Quintet (1997), a serial work, sustains lyricism through the use of surprising harmonies and melodic lines. Shanahan's "Solar Dust: Orbits & Spirals", a work for solo mandolin, employs a range of devices (including microtonal deviations) to paint a "spacescape" of the planet Saturn, observed through the ice crystals which comprise its rings. Mageau solos in her own piano work "Soliloquy" written in 1984 as a dance piece , and Barnaby Ralph ably conveys elemental quietude in Beath's Night Songs No. 1 & 2, for solo Recorder, Bass then Alto. In Bartlett's celebratory "Procession for Elizabeth" the composer provides organ sonorities recorded in Sydney, Australia.
Carson P. Cooman has given live performances of a number of Allworth's organ works in the US, which have received favourable notices in the press.
Click here to read these.
Read an Australian review by Rita Cruise in The Studio, quarterly magazine of the Music Teachers' Association of New South Wales.
Listen to "Et In Arcadia Ego"
"DULCIE
HOLLAND & FRIENDS " JADCD 1089
Works by: Dulcie Holland, Robert Allworth, Ann Carr-Boyd, Eric Gross, Ian Shanahan, Lawrence Bartlett, Colin Brumby, Derek Strahan. Duration: 51'31"
Dulcie Holland (1913-2000) died on May 21 2000. She was 87. This CD is devised and compiled by Jade producer Robert Allworth as a tribute to this distinguished and much loved composer who once described herself as "a musical missionary". Four of her short, evocative piano works are heard in this compilation, two performed by her, and two by pianist Sally Mays, who is also heard in works by Carr-Boyd and Gross. Also by Gross are two genial works written for the Sydney Mandolins. Shanahan performs his own micro piece for Alto Recorder, contrasting with Bartlett's "Serenade for Tomorrow" for trumpet & piano, and Brumby's energising "ANZAAS Fanfare". A small jazz combo then plays film music in Strahan's "The Australian Ark" Suite No. 5. (For Suites 1 & 2 see "Afternoon Light" JADCD 1076 and for Suites 3 & 4 see "Fandango", JADCD 1078.)
Read press review about "Dulcie Holland & Friends"
"ECHOES
FANTASIES" JADCD 1088
Works by: Robert Allworth, Lawrence Bartlett, Ann Carr-Boyd, Eric Gross, Dulcie Holland, Ian Shanahan, Derek Strahan. Duration: 66'37"
A collection of contrasts. Shanahan's "Echoes.Fantasies"(1984) for bass clarinet and percussion (vibraphone and bells) exploits extremes of tempo, beginning and ending in a lively and ecstatic manner. The slow and shimmering middle section evokes images of remote parts of Australia. Soloists are Nigel Westlake and Michael Askill. Shanahan also contributes an early synthesizer piece "SineBirds:FeralAbacus" and his own performance of "Five Etudes" for solo recorder. Allworth's "Movements For Mandolin & Piano" (1999) celebrates the Feast Day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Carr-Boyd's ever popular "Fandango" is heard here in a new arrangement made for The Sydney Mandolins.
Tenor David Hamilton, with composer
Nigel Butterly on piano perform Holland's "Three Tree Songs"
(1991) set to poems by Andrew Lansdown, and her "Ballad for
Clarinet & Piano (1952) is heard in a remastered vintage
recording featuring Clive Amadio and Olga Krasnik. "Suite
For Trombone Quartet (1997) by Gross exploits the full
resources of the instrument. Bartlett's "Jolly Octopus"
recalls a "show and tell" scene at an Infants' School. The
CD concludes with Strahan's 15-minute "China Spring" (1989)
for Cello & Piano, written to commemorate the "Tiananmen
Square Massacre" of 4 June 1989, heard here in an incendiary
premier performance given at the Sydney Conservatorium of
Music by Georg Pedersen, cello and David Miller, piano.
Read about "China
Spring"
Listen to "China Spring"
"FRAY"
(the 70th Jade CD!) JADCD 1086
Works by: Kirsty Beilharz, Eric Gross, Dulcie Holland, Caroline Szeto, Robert Allworth, Ian Shanahan, Ann Carr-Boyd, Lawrence Bartlett, Derek Strahan. Duration: 51'01"
"Fray" is probably one of Jade's most
varied ever collections, starting with the title track for
mandolins by Beilharz, "a musical implosion" written for the
1997 Australian Women's Music Festival and performed here by
the Sydney Mandolins. More for mandolin ensemble by Szeto,
Carr-Boyd, mandolin solo by Gross, expert recorder solos
composed & performed by Shanahan, piano music by
Allworth and Holland, Bartlett's elegiac piece for trumpet
and piano, and Strahan's Jazz Fusion work for 8-piece
ensemble, "Triple Six" an evocation of the biblical
Apocalypse.
Listen to Triple
Six
"MUSIC FOR
A CHAMPAGNE BREAKFAST" (THE ORIGINAL!) (GOURMET COLOUR
COVER!!) JADCD 1085
Works by: Robert Allworth, Vernon Lisle, Colin Brumby, Betty Beath, Ann Carr-Boyd, Eric Gross, Derek Strahan, Ian Shanahan. Duration: 72'50"
A re-release of the original "Music
For A Champagne Breakfast" which was so popular it sold out!
Features the late Vernon Lisle's two "Schubertian" piano
sonatas, Brumby's Italianate "Borromeo Suite" for flute
& guitar, Beath's sun-drenched Mikri Thalassa (Little
Sea) for mandolins & guitar, Strahan's jazzy "Escorts"
for flute, alto saxophone & piano, plus short
atmospheric pieces by Shanahan (solo clarinet), Allworth
(solo piano), Gross and Carr-Boyd.
Read about "Escorts"
Listen to Reconciliation from Escorts
"SANCTUS"
JADCD 1081 (10th ANNIVERSARY JADE CD)
Works by: Eric Gross, Colin Brumby, Derek Strahan, Ann Carr-Boyd, Dulcie Holland, Robert Allworth, Lawrence Bartlett, Richard Austin. Duration: 71'06"
"Sanctus" opens with 6 Organ Voluntaries composed in 1972 by Allworth, ranging in mood from the contemplative to the celebratory, in honour of Saint Catherine Laboure who was visited by the Virgin Mary in a vision in 1830. These and a short occasional piece by Brumby are performed by Lawrence Bartlett at the organ of St. Michael's, Vaucluse. Bartlett's own 'Ceremonial Te Deum' is performed by organist Bransby Byrne and the choir of St. Andrews Cathedral - a live recording made in 1988 at a special Bicentennial service in the presence of Prince Charles and Princess Diana!
Secular music is represented by solo
piano works by Carr-Boyd ('Saturn' 1978) and Austin
(Impromptu No. 4, 1998); by two lyrical works of Dulcie
Holland, for String Quartet and for Mandolins; by the
virtuosic 'Triptych for solo violin' (1991) by Gross, and by
a recent live recording by Georg Pedersen of Strahan's
'Suite No. 1 for Solo Cello', a Suite of Jazz Dances. Made
at a concert by the Ku-Ring-Gai Virtuosi, this performance
was well reviewed by John Carmody in the Sun Herald, who
wrote: "... Like the baroque (cello) suites, this is made up
of dance movements and there is real wit in hearing
boogie-woogie, a tango and blues coming from a solo cello.
The composer never laboured the jokes and Georg Pedersen
handled it with aplomb. I almost expected him to waltz off,
partnered by his curvaceous cello ..." Music critic Fred
Blanks, writing in the North Shore Times in January 1999,
listed this performance as one of "the eight most striking
performances of Australian music which came my way in
1998."
Read about
"Suite No.1 for solo cello"
Listen to Tango from Suite No.1 for solo cello
"PROCESSION
FOR ELIZABETH" JADCD 1079
Works by: Robert Allworth, Laurence Bartlett, Dulcie Holland, Eric Gross, Colin Brumby, Ann Carr-Boyd, Derek Strahan, Betty Beath. Duration: 67'48" Laurence Bartlett performs organ works including two of his own: the title track and "Lament For Duncan", inspired by Shakespeare's "Macbeth". Four preludes on religious themes by Allworth using serial technique contrast with two tonal works by Holland and Brumby. Gross contributes two occasional pieces of substance. Strahan's "Wedding March" is the first music written for a proposed new opera, "Takeover", on the subject of a stock market crash! Vocal music is provided by Beath's orchestration of five of her "River Songs" performed by soprano Jan Delpratt with the Queensland Symphony, conducted by Richard Mills. Beath solos in Allworth's intense 1966 Piano Sonata. In lighter vein Carr-Boyd is pianist on two solo pieces, plus the duo "Slow Jazz" in which she is joined on violin by her daughter, Katrina Carr-Boyd.
"FANDANGO"
JADCD 1078
Works by: Eric Gross, Dulcie Holland, Robert Allworth, Derek Strahan, Soon Yeon Choi. Duration: 55'46. "Fandango" is one of four works by Anne Carr-Boyd on a CD which also features compositions by her student Soo Teon Choi ("Flamenco Fantasy"). Gross, Holland and Allworth provide works in a variety of styles for the Sydney Mandolins, and the CD concludes with Suites 3 & 4 of film music by Strahan titled "The Australian Ark", written for Robert Raymond's documentary series on Australian wild life, shown widely on TV here and abroad as "Shell's Australia". Suite 3 "The Coming Of Man" is based on musical scales used by peoples of Arnhem Land. Suite 4, "Land Of Birds" for a trio of flute, clarinet & cello is performed by Neville Amadio, Donald Westlake and Robert Miller, then of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
THE 60th JADE!!
"AFTERNOON
LIGHT" JADCD 1076
Works by: Dulcie Holland, Eric Gross, Robert Allworth, Derek
Strahan. Duration: 59'41. Meditative works of melodic charm
make up the first half of this CD. The title piece is named
after Sir Robert Menzies' autobiography and was composed by
Allworth in 1991 for the Sydney Mandolins who also
contributes "Lady In Blue" ("Immaculate Heart of Mary") for
String Quartet. Two more string quartet pieces are by Dulcie
Holland and were written for children of members of the
Gagliano Quartet, who perform them. Holland's evocative
"Barely Spring" for flute, violin & cello follows with
"Rondo Tranquillo" by Eric Gross for solo piano. Change to
an up-tempo mood is provided by Suites Nos. 1 & 2 of
"The Australian Ark", music composed by Derek Strahan for a
major 13-part film documentary series on Australian wild
life made by distinguished author/film producer Robert
Raymond and originally screened on TV in the 70s as "Shell's
Australia" .
Listen to
The
Australian Ark
Suite #1
"MUSIC FOR
A CHAMPAGNE BREAKFAST" VOLUME 2 JADCD
1075
Works by: Dulcie Holland, Ann Carr-Boyd, Colin Brumby, Eric Gross, Lawrence Bartlett, Robert Allworth, Derek Strahan. Duration: 61'30" This is a follow-up to the popular Volume 1 (now sold out!). Clarinettist Paul Champion with pianist Tony Baldwin perform works by Gross ("Happy Clarinet" , "Three Inventions"), Carr-Boyd ("On The Shores of Aswan") and Bartlett ("Bosun Club"). Holland contributes a Suite for solo oboe, "Three Signatures" (1992), "Rondel" (1985) for cello & piano and "Self Portrait" (1992) for solo clarinet. Allworth's "The Ascension" (1993) is a highly original work for Recorder Consort. Strahan's "Trans Australia Suite No. 2" (1968) presents more music from "Wheels Across Australia", a film documentary about the Leyland Brothers' transit of Australia by 4-wheel drive.
"EDEN IN
ATLANTIS" JADCD1074
Works by: Derek Strahan, Eric
Gross, Colin Brumby, Dulcie Holland, Robert Allworth.
Duration: 63.25 Title work is a 25 min. Scena for Soprano,
Flute/Alto Flute & Piano , music & libretto by
Strahan, which develops material intended for the first of a
cycle of four operas on the subject of past civilisations
lost to global cataclysm. The libretto (which is included in
liner notes) describes Eve's recollections of a lovers'
tryst and also denotes an earth which is geologically
different. It is performed by Liza Rintel, Michael Scott and
David Miller. Other major works are Holland's eloquent 1993
Cello Sonata, and Allworth's impressive 1988 Concerto for
French Baroque Lute & Chamber Ensemble. Two short works
provided further contrast: an organ choral by Brumby and
"Thanksgiving", a piano solo by Gross, celebrating the 40th
wedding anniversary of relatives living in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.
Read about "Eden In
Atlantis"
Listen to
Rhapsody from Eden In Atlantis
"REMEMBERING
ADRIAN BRAUN" JACD1073 and featuring AUSTRALIAN MUSIC FOR
FILM
JADCD 1073 Works by: Derek Strahan,
Ann Carr-Boyd, Colin Brumby, Robert Allworth, Eric Gross,
Dulcie Holland, Ian Shanahan. Duration: 71.00 This CD
contains two 15 minute Suites of film music by Strahan:
"Cult of Diana" (1992) and "Fantasy" (1990) both scored for
virtual orchestra (synthesizer) with live flute (Michael
Scott) and saxophone (Graeme Lyall) in "Cult". Four fine
elegaic solo piano works are featured. Two are performed by
Dulcie Holland, her own "Four Aspects" and the title track
by Allworth; Brumby gives his own "Twilight Pastoral" and
Simon Docking contributes Shanahan's highly individual "Arc
Of Light" (1993).
Imaginative scoring for organ and strings distinguishes
Carr-Boyd's "Music For A Space Journey" (1974). Gross and
Allworth provide contrasting piano & mandolin
pieces.
Listen to
Cult
Of Diana
Listen to Fantasy
"VOODOO
FIRE" JADCD 1063
Works by: Derek Strahan, Eric Gross, Caroline Szeto, Dulcie Holland, Colin Brumby, Robert Allworth. Duration: 62.05
The CD is named after Strahan's 16 minute work premiered in April, 1996 at the Canberra School of Music by Alan Vivian, clarinet; Michael Askill, percussion & Susan Powell, piano & synthesiser. The work evokes Caribbean rhythms and Voodoo ceremonies. Following is Strahan's "Atlantis" for Flute & Piano, as performed in 1992 at a Masters Degree Recital at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music by Belinda Gough and Josephine Allan. The work develops themes intended for a 4-opera cycle. "Mandigar 3" by Gross is the first of 4 works for mandolin, ensemble or solo. The CD closes with a fine piece on a religious theme for Organ by Allworth, "Hymn To The Bleeding Host of Santarem, Portugal" (1989).
Read more about
"Voodoo
Fire"
Read more about "Atlantis"
Listen to Offerings from Voodoo Fire
Listen to Possession from Voodoo Fire
Listen to Birds from Atlantis
Listen to Nocturne from Atlantis
"ARTISANS
OF AUSTRALIA"JADCD 1054
Works by: Derek
Strahan, Ann Carr-Boyd, Dulcie Holland, Eric Gross, Lawrence
Bartlett, Colin Brumby, Philip Wilcher, Ian Shanahan, Robert
Allworth. Duration: 71.35 This CD is named after Film
Australia's award-winning documentary series on traditional
crafts for which Strahan wrote the music, variations for 4
different ensembles on an original theme of Irish character.
Among other appealing works featured are Carr-Boyd's
"Foxtrot" for mandolins; Bartlett's piano piece "Jolly
Octopus" (show-and-tell at Infant's School), and Robert
Allworth's eerie outer space music for strings, "Zarcon 3",
from a first performance in Japan at the Asian Composer's
Forum '95. The CD also celebrates Derek Strahan's 60th
birthday.
Listen to Haunted
Ballroom from
Artisans Of Australian
"TWIN
TOWERS" JADCD 1055
Works by: Dulcie Holland, Eric Gross, Ann
Carr-Boyd, Colin Brumby, Derek Strahan, Lawrence Bartlett,
Robert Allworth. Duration: 69.26. The new Glebe Island
Suspension Bridge in Sydney inspired pieces by Gross,
Carr-Boyd and Allworth. The marine theme continues with "Fairy Penguins" (Holland) and "Fur Seals" (Bartlett).
Instrumentation ranges from solo piano, quartet (Strahan's
baroque "In The Attic") to "Fanfopus" by Gross, played by
the Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by Patrick
Thomas.
Listen to In
The Attic
"THE GLASS
HOUSE SUITE" JADCD 1057
Works by: Olive Anderson, Dulcie Holland,
Colin Brumby, Ann Carr-Boyd, Larry Sitsky, Derek Strahan,
Lawrence Bartlett, Robert Allworth, Eric Gross. Duration;
72.44 On the cover, the Sydney Opera House, a view showing
the glass panels. Anderson's title piece reflects her love
of the Australian landscape. Strahan's jazz-influenced film
music "On The Reef" depicts the Great Barrier Reef. Jazz
rhythms abound in the Rondo from Brumby's Clarinet Concerto.
Sitsky's Sonata for Solo Mandolin is inspired by Hindu
mythology. Holland and Allworth each contributes an elegy to
a remembered friend. This CD contains a range of musical
styles and offers an attractive overview of Australian music
composition from 1964 to 1996.
Listen to Coral from On The Reef Suite #1
"MUSIC FOR A
CANDLELIGHT DINNER" JADCD 1058
Works by: Dulcie Holland, Ann
Carr-Boyd, Colin Brumby, Betty Beath, Lawrence Bartlett,
Derek Strahan, Robert Allworth, Eric Gross. Duration: 69.08
On the cover, Archibald Fountain, Sydney. To this mellow
collection, Holland contributes 4 pieces including Ballad
for Clarinet & Piano, lovingly remastered from a 1955
recording featuring Clive Amadio & Olga Krasnik. There
are diverse piano pieces by Carr-Boyd, Beath, Gross &
Allworth. In lively contrast are Brumby's "Chiaroscuro"
(1977) performed by Perihelion, and "Capriccio for Solo
Bassoon", played by Ann Hoare. The CD concludes with
Strahan's moody jazz-fusion piece "Free Spirit" (1982).
Listen to Free
Spirit Jazz
Fusion Group
"AUTUMN
PASTORALE" JADCD 1059
Works by: Dulcie Holland, Colin Brumby, Eric Gross, Ann Carr-Boyd, Derek Strahan, Robert Allworth. Duration : 70.57
An evocative piano piece by Holland provides the title track. From Carr-Boyd, the ever-popular "Fandango" for mandolins (1982) and the more recent "Murray River" (1995) written and played by the Sydney Guitar Orchestra. Strahan's "Piano Trio No. 1 in F" was commissioned to celebrate Australia Day in the Bicentennial Year (1988). It was first performed at a Champagne Breakfast, then again at Lunch, in Sydney's Centrepoint Tower overlooking the festivities in the Harbour. This 33-minute 4-movement work is in melodic, neo-classical style, and is a remastered recording of a live broadcast given during 2MBS Oz Music Week 1988.
Read more about
"Piano Trio
No.1 in F"
Listen to Freedom theme from Piano Trio #1
Listen to Love theme from Piano Trio
#1
"CLASSICS OF
AUSTRALIAN MUSIC" JADCD 1060
Works by: Dulcie Holland, Robert Allworth, Colin Brumby, Lawrence Bartlett, Sven Libaek, Mike Irik, Richard Austin, Eric Gross, Derek Strahan, Ann Carr-Boyd, Olive Anderson. Duration: 68.05 Moody pieces for piano and small ensemble by Holland, Allworth & Carr-Boyd evoke summer, twilight, the moon - and Spain in "Habanera Serenade" by Gross. Lively contrast from Libaek's "3 Etudes" for piano, Irik's 1992 "Duet for 2 Bass Clarinets" and Strahan's "Aliens Among Us", music for a film documentary about insects. Brumby's "Victimae Paschali" for choir & Orchestra recalls Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana".
Listen to Busybody
from Aliens Among Us
"ROMANTIC
AUSTRALIAN CLASSICS" JADCD 1061
Works by: Ann
Carr-Boyd, Eric Gross, Robert Allworth, Dulcie Holland,
Colin Brumby, Derek Strahan. Duration: 57.59. Five recent
works for violin & piano open this attractive
collection. They are by Carr-Boyd, Brumby (2), Allworth
& Gross. The performers are Glenn Murray, violin, and
Carr-Boyd, piano. With her daughter, Katrina, Anne also
plays her lovely work "Songs Of Joy"(1996). Another
composer/performer, Holland, plays her own "Piano Rag", and
two "winter" pieces, one by herself and one by Allworth.
Strahan's "On The Reef" Suite 2 presents more music written
for Robert Raymond's documentary on the Great Barrier Reef.
The CD concludes with the delightful "Rondino Pastorale" for
mandolins, guitar & flute (1962) by Gross.
"BEST
OF AUSTRALIAN CLASSICS" JADCD 1065
Works by: Colin
Brumby, Dulcie Holland, Eric Gross, Derek Strahan, Ann
Carr-Boyd, Bruce Cale, Robert Allworth. Duration: 59.35. A
wide variety of music. Big sounds from the Queensland
Symphony Orchestra playing Brumby's "South Bank
Overture"(1985); Holland's solo piano in the skittish "Three
Dances for a New Doll"(1942); remastering of Allworth's
"Cremorne Pastorale"(1970) for celesta, piano & string
orchestra.; the first CD release of Strahan's film music for
Robert Raymond's 1968 film documentary on the Leyland
Brothers' transit of Australia by 4-wheel drive in "Trans
Australia Suite No. 1"; and Bruce Cale's intriguing
"Cullenbenbong" for Bass Recorder & Temple Bells.
Listen to Billabong
from Trans Australia
#1
OTHER
MUSIC BY DEREK STRAHAN ON CD
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All images and text within this site are copyright protected 1997 - 2001 Derek Strahan dstrahan@revolve.com.au