Preposterousness

Kondalilla

I've really been enjoying my walk down ChoralMemory Lane, and since it (tenuously) links in with my aim of mixing choral music with electronica, I've extended it to a third part. (I know - I'm really stretching the friendship aren't I...I might stretch it even further too. So there.) This week I've posted just the one song (I can hear your sighs of relief), but have given you a little bit more information about the inspiration. Actually, that's a lie...all I've done is include this link to the beautiful part of Queensland that inspired this song. And to say that Diane and I also spent our first anniversary in a stunning resort that overlooked some of the beautiful sub-tropical rainforest that covers most of this amazing place. It all feels so long ago...and yet, as though no time has passed by at all. I enjoy living in a large city, being surrounded by hustle and bustle, hundreds of different cultures, cuisines, artistic expressions...the list of diversities is endless. But, kinda peversely, what I enjoy about it the most is how much more I appreciate the beauty of God's untouched creation. This "song", the third movement from Great Southern Spirits, as featured in my last choral post, and performed by Australian Voices, never fails to take me directly to Kondalilla National Park. It is like going on sabbatical without ever physically leaving; instant refreshment, ready to take on world once more. A lot like meditating on the Word of God; certainly no replacement for that - just a wonderful accompaniment. It's an unconventional piece (as if you'd expect anything less), but truly evocative of the Australian bush. Lyre birds, whip birds and bell birds can all be heard in the amazing female parts that form basis of this piece. I love it, and I hope there's something in there that you can appreciate to.

Where does music take you?

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Choral not Coral

Enough of you enjoyed last week's post on my choir boy past that I've now served up part two. This time, I've gone for pieces that are quite different musically, but there's another key difference...these are both much much longer. So make sure you've got time to appreciate them, or can put them on nice and loud as background music for 15 minutes or so. Freak out your neighbours with the 2nd one especially. While you're listening, you should also go and have a look at my elder sister's blog, CeeLew, who once again was a soprano in these choirs, while my non-blogging, non-Twittering, non-Facebooking younger sister, Lis (Liz, but since her name is Elisabeth, her Liz is Lis...ok?) was an alto. I was a tenor. And I am these days as well, though I've worked a lot on increasing my baritone range as well. First up, our school choir : St Peters Chorale. It's still a world class choir, even without all of us. I know, hard to imagine isn't it?? It must be the Graeme Morton factor, as most everything he touches turns to gold when it comes to choral music. (Had I mentioned we went to boarding school, btw?) Anyway, Past Life Melodies by Sarah Hopkins is a great example of haunting simplicity, and features some wonderful harmonic singing. If you're short on time, fast forward through to around the 4:30 mark, by which time the drone has been set up and the harmonics are starting to bounce over the top as two of the guys trade harmonic lines. I will admit I was always a little disappointed with the title of this piece (and not just because of my faith), as I think it is far more evocative of the Australian outback than it is of past lives. What do you think?

Next we head back to The Australian Voices who featured in the last post. This is the final movement of the title track of our first album, Great Southern Spirits. Uluru is the indigenous name of Ayers Rock, that amazing centre-piece to our nation. Diane and I have been there 3 times, and I can't get enough of the place. Truly amazing, and I think this song reflects the diversity of the environment quite well - but bizarrely you can hear me very clearly throughout. There were 15 other guys in this choir, so I'm not sure why my voice is so prominent; I know I can project well...so that must be it... This piece was considered key in the album winning the Sunnie Award for Best Classical Album in 1994. The lyric is based on poetry by Michael Doneman, while the music is by Stephen Leek, who was also our school's composer in residence for a period of time. You don't realise how cool that is until after the fact. Like a lot of things in life I guess. Enjoy the outback ... "they capture the moment on film"

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My Heritage

I was a choir boy. Much of the international travel I have had the privilege of taking part in across Europe and the USA is because I was a choir boy. And the choirs were good. We won some ARIA Awards for classical recordings. That's our equivalent of the Grammys. If you know what I sound like, you can clearly hear me in these (very short) songs. In fact, even if you don't know what I sound like, you can still hear me clearly...you just won't know. Both my sisters were in this choir too. Good times. So long ago. Eek. The Australian Voices

Australian Up-Country Song : Percy Grainger - by the time this was written, Percy was living in the USA. He was almost a pop star in his day (late 19th century), and was missing home. For reasons unknown, he decided wordless was the way to go. I'm very glad about that.

Autumn Song : Peter Sculthorpe - one of my favourite contemporary classical choral songs, beautifully simple and evocative, particularly if you've ever visited Tasmania, Peter's home state. I've got plenty more, so if you're interested, let me know in the comments and I'll do another choral heritage post soon. And if you're feeling particularly bizarre, try playing both MP3 files at once. Yeah.

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