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Sun Fun and other Disappointments: The music of Michael Easton

This compilation CD brings together the wide range of British/Australian composer Michael Easton’s compositional output (1981-1993) - ranging from solo piano and duo pianos to a flute sonata, a piccolo concerto, song cycles, and four songs from Easton’s one-woman show ‘Dorothy Parker Says’.

Michael Easton was not only a composer and pianist, but also a music critic, pre-concert speaker, lecturer, and founder, with Len Vorster, of the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival.

This CD title was inspired by poems of British poet laureate John Betjeman. The song-cycle based on these poems are beautifully interpreted by Kathleen Southall-Casey.

This year 2024 commemorates Michael Easton’s 70th year, and also 20 years since his death in 2004. The re-release of this CD also pays tribute to soprano Kathleen Southall-Casey (1961-2024).

The performers are pianists Len Vorster, Michael Easton and Rebecca Chambers - Kathleen Southall-Casey (soprano), Ian Cousins (baritone), Australian actress Deidre Rubenstein (vocals), Frederick Shade (piccolo), Richard Thurlby (flute), and Brett Kelly conducting the Academy of Melbourne.

Artists

Michael Easton

Michael Easton's music reflects his own ebullience, energy and good humor. It is entirely accessible - reliant upon ear-catching melodies, piquant harmonies, and brilliant orchestration.

Len Vorster

Len Vorster is one of Australia's finest accompanists and is artistic director of Classical Palette (a series of Naxos recordings devoted to contemporary music), of the Schirmer Ensemble, and of Port Fairy Spring Music Festival.


Press quote

“... he was a complete musician, far more at ease in his work than any other writer I have come across, except Peter Sculthorpe who shared with Easton a courtesy and ease with his fellow man that was most appealing in the context of Australian composition during the latter half of the last century. The CD’s most substantial work is the Piccolo Concerto of 1986, written for Melbourne Symphony Orchestra flautist Frederick Shade and here recorded at the Port Fairy Spring Festival of 1992 with the Academy of Melbourne and its founder Brett Kelly conducting. Easton’s ... Nocturne: Andante cantabile offers a fine fusion of sentiment and power; the emotional language sounds more determined and sincere than much on this CD. The composer was never one to scale the heights of modernity and the spices he employed in his work were usually mild; these pages in particular speak to the man’s professionalism and the ability to find a particular spectrum of operations, then explore it effortlessly. ... it is hard, at least for some of us, to forget Easton and his unflappable skill.”

Read full review

— Clive O'Connell, O'Connell the Music

Track Listing

    Moods for Piano Michael Easton

  1. In Reflective Mood
  2. High Spirits
  3. Alone and Lonely
  4. Practical Jokes

    5. Deux Chansons pour L'Arrière-Saison Michael Easton

  5. Colloque Sentimentale
  6. Dans le Bois

    7. Cocktail Suite Michael Easton

  7. Whiskey Sour Waltz
  8. Martini Melody
  9. Schneider Cup Charleston

    10. Sun Fun and other Disappointments Michael Easton

  10. Song of s Night-Club Proprietress
  11. Harvest Hymn
  12. In a Bath Tea-Shop
  13. How to Get On in Society

    14. Flute Sonata Michael Easton

  14. Allegro Maliziso
  15. Nocturne: Andante Cantabile
  16. Finale: Presto

    17. How Pleasant to Know Mr Lear Michael Easton

  17. There was an Old Man who said Hush
  18. Old man of the Hague
  19. Old Man of Whitehaven
  20. Mrs Jaypher
  21. How Pleasant to Know Mr Lear
  22. Conversations for Piano Michael Easton

    23. Piccolo Concerto Michael Easton

  23. Allegro
  24. Andante con moto
  25. Rondo

    26. Dorothy Parker Says Michael Easton

  26. General Review
  27. Song of Perfect Propriety
  28. Fulfillment
  29. But not Forgotten

Performers

Where to buy

Sun Fun and other Disappointments: The music of Michael Easton 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
Release date
March 2024
Copyright
© 2004 Len Vorster
Phonogram
℗ 2024 Move Records
Category
Classical
Catalogue number
MCD 657
Alternate catalogue number
MCD657
Barcode
EAN 9314570465727