Siva
Michael Kieran Harvey plays Australian masterworks for piano of the last fifty years. The composers represented on this great recording include Raymond Hanson, Gordon Kerry, Brendan Colbert, Helen Gifford and Neil Kelly.
This CD juxtaposes numerous currents and shockwaves emanating from Europe that have played out in Australian composition over the last sixty years or so. The search for a grand unifying structure seems to link all of these works, which are nevertheless diverse in compositional approach. All the works refer to a specific device or code that is reinterpreted and developed from an Australian perspective.
The two sonatas take devices from contemporary European and American composition as initial paradigmatic templates for development within the structural trope of the three-movement piano sonata.
Siva and Moths take mythical and fantasy themes to generate episodic structures that question traditional compositional development, while Quicksand is an exploration of the psychological state of contemporary alienation and bewilderment transferred to a constantly-shifting and claustrophobic sound-world of rotating pitches. A binding thematic link is that all the works appropriate recognisable styles as a departure point for highly individual and exciting re-imaginings of these styles, making for an exuberant kaleidoscope of sonic environments, despite the limitations of the acoustic piano.
Artist
Michael Kieran Harvey
Australian pianist and composer, Dr Michael Kieran Harvey FAHA, is one of the foremost interpreters of contemporary piano music of his generation. A champion of Australian music and himself a composer, he regularly commissions new Australian music and has performed with Australia's leading contemporary music ensembles and orchestras.
Audio previews
Track Listing
- Allegro Moderato 7:08
- Andante espressivo 5:15
- Allegretto - meno mosso - Allegro maestoso 5:28
- First movement 7:58
- Second movement 6:23
- Third movement 2:31
- Quicksand - 2005 Brendan Colbert 9:35
- Siva - 2012 Helen Gifford 7:01
- Moths - 2014 Neil Kelly 13:12
Piano Sonata, Op. 12 Raymond Hanson
Piano Sonata - 1997 Gordon Kerry
Performers
Composers
Gordon Kerry
Gordon Kerry's music ranges from the symphonic through chamber music to choral music and opera. He is frequently commissioned by Australian orchestras, chamber ensembles, festivals and soloists, as well as ensembles in the USA and Europe.
Brendan Colbert
Brendan Colbert was born in Ballarat, Victoria, in 1956. After moving to Melbourne in the 1970s, he worked with various progressive-rock bands as keyboard player and songwriter, and during the 1980s studied composition with Brenton Broadstock and Riccardo Formosa.
Helen Gifford
Like Sculthorpe and Grainger before her, Australian composer Helen Gifford has found inspiration in the gamelan and Balinese music.
Where to buy
Siva is available for download from the iTunes Music Store.
It's available for streaming through
Apple Music.
Siva is available as as CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer secure online ordering.
Move CDs can be ordered through music retailers across Australia including Readings.
Product details
- List price
- $25.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 64 minutes 31 seconds
- Release date
- August 2015
- Copyright
- © 2015 Move Records
- Phonogram
- ℗ 2015 Move Records
- Categories
- Australian, Classical, Keyboard
- Catalogue number
- MD 3397
- Barcode
- EAN 9314574339727
