Album Notes

“ARIAS AND INTERLUDES” JADCD 1115
Music by Australian composers: ROBERT ALLWORTH, ANN CARR-BOYD, ERIC GROSS.
Total duration: 59.20

This is the 99th Jade CD in the 17th year of production by Australian composer/entrepreneur Robert Allworth. It features three major works by well-known Australian composers, superbly performed by top Australian classical music artists.

The 4-movement Quartet for Mandolin & String Trio (1986) by Eric Gross is a half-hour work which exhibits technical virtuosity in performance and in which (in the composer’s words) “the audience is challenged to discern and follow thematic development and to unravel the musical discussion between individual instruments”.

Robert Allworth’s “Arias and Interludes” (1984) is scored for Mandolin and String Trio. Lasting 22’25” it contains 18 short movements comprising 12 Arias and 6 Interludes. Written in 12-tone technique, it employs numerous serial devices including a direct reversal in the final Aria of the first Aria.

Ann Carr-Boyd’s “Music for a Space Journey” (1974) was commissioned by the Organ Institute of NSW, and is scored for Organ and String Ensemble. Featured here is the re–remastered recording of the premier performance in the Great Hall of the University of Sydney, Australia. Contemporary in nature, the music uses avant-garde techniques to give the atmospheric feel of a space journey.

The cover photo by composer Derek Strahan features scenic aspects of Australia’s Northern Territory at King’s Canyon.

You can learn more about Australian music by visiting Derek Strahan’s website
http://www.revolve.com.au