Album Notes

The music on this CD is a collection of contrasting pieces written over a period of some twenty-five years.

103.5-Intermezzo for orchestra was initially written in 2001 for a competition staged to celebrate the Twenty-fifth anniversary of the classical music broadcaster 3MBS-FM. The title refers to the radio stations call-sign and my volunteer role as a programmer for the afternoon drivetime show “Intermezzo”. The music is celebratory in feeling and builds from a gentle opening into a more elaborate and robust structure. Although not a competition winner, the piece was eventually given its first performance in 2002 by the Whitehorse Orchestra directed by Gerald Keunemann. The piece is dedicated to the volunteers and staff of radio station 3MBS-FM.

Elegy for Strings was written in 1988 from a melody written down some years earlier. It is an expressive and intense piece in which the melody is presented in three different elaborations- as a canon, contrapuntally and harmonically.

Benalla Suite started life in 1995 as a suite for concert band. It was written after a tour of North Central Victoria with students of the Eltham High School Concert Band. The four movements evoke aspects of the area in which we toured such as its proximity to the Victorian Alps, the rivers that flow from them, the historical associations with Ned Kelly and the experience of being on a bus for five days with fifty-five students. The music was subsequently re-orchestrated for symphony orchestra although it retains some of the sound of the band scoring. This re-scores version was performed by the Whitehorse Orchestra in 2004.

The Three pieces for strings are some of my earliest surviving pieces. Peace and Little Elegy were written around 1980 as piano pieces. Given their slow and reflective nature, they were subsequently reworked as pieces for strings. Farewell was added in 1995 to form a trilogy.

The Concertino for strings started life as a brass quintet in 1994 and has had various reassignments for winds and strings. The version for strings was given its first performance in 2003 by the Melbourne Musicians directed by Frank Pam. In this work, I aimed to write music that was energetic and brash, hence the titles of the individual movements.

The Reel is a Saturday afternoon piece- something that just comes into your head and is written down for no real purpose. The entire piece was largely completed in one afternoon and has no serious redeeming qualities.