solo with piano

fantasia on waltzing matilda, for cello and piano (2020)

c. 4 mins

Score availability: Published by the Australian Music Centre

Program note

Fantasia for Waltzing Matilda was composed for Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott. Though this work significantly ‘reimagines’ the harmonic and textural context of Marie Cowan’s original melody, I have tried to remain faithful to its inherent expressiveness and lyricism which has provided such joy and meaning to many generations of Australians.

Performances

• 11 November 2020; Yo-Yo Ma & Kathryn Stott; Tainan Cultural Center, Tainan, Taiwan

• 13 November 2020; Yo-Yo Ma & Kathryn Stott; National Taichung Theater, Taiwan

• 14 November 2020; Yo-Yo Ma & Kathryn Stott; National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts Concert Hall, Taiwan

• 15 November 2020; Yo-Yo Ma & Kathryn Stott; National Concert Hall, Taiwan

sCORE SAMPLE and media

further reading

Harry Sdraulig pens a song of comfort and hope - an article for Limelight Magazine on the compositional and collaborative process of writing for Yo-Yo Ma and Kathryn Stott

tempest, for cello and piano (2020)

c. 6 mins

Score availability: Published by the Australian Music Centre

Program note

Tempest was commissioned by Fr Arthur E Bridge AM OAM on behalf of Ars Musica Australis LTD for premiere performance by Umberto Clerici and Benjamin Kopp in association with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra. The work’s title reflects the dramatic, tempestuous character of the writing. A typical performance should last a little over five minutes.

Performances

• 15 October 2020; Umberto Clerici & Benjamin Kopp; National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, ACT

sCORE SAMPLE

NIGHTGLOW, for alto saxophone and piano (2018)

c. 6 mins

Score availability: Enquire

Program note

Those of us who reside in the big cities will recognise Nightglow – the warm, luminous brown haze that coats the sky on a cloudy evening; a golden streetlamp that casts a dim but steep shadow over the footpath; the moonlight that beams through the curtains. Nightglow is seemingly antithetical to our perception of the darkness of the night, yet inseparable from our reality of it. It has both natural and artificial sources, bothering both nocturnal animals and amateur astronomers alike.  This piece is a musical expression of the colour, mood and sound that such images evoke. The melodic and harmonic palette shades between clarity and ambiguity, with long threads of material being cast through the texture. Nightglow is dedicated to the outstanding Polish duo of Andrzej Karałow and Pablo Sánchez-Escariche Gasch.

Performances

• 18 February 2018; Andrzej Karałow & Pablo Sánchez-Escariche Gasch; Łazienki Palace, Warsaw, Poland

sCORE SAMPLe and media

VISIONS of judgement, for tenor and piano (2015)

c. 13 mins

Score availability: Published by Wirripang (ISMN 9790720226064)

Program note

Visions of Judgement was commissioned by my friend and fine tenor Leighton Triplow. It sets three texts by the 17th-century bishop William Fuller. The three movements (one for each text) run continuously and form an overall structure, both musically and lyrically: 

1. A Morning Hymn: Thou wakeful shepherd

2. In the black, dismal dungeon of despair

3. An Evening Hymn: Now that the sun hath veil'd his light

Performances

• 27 November 2015; Leighton Triplow & Julian Wilkins; University of Birmingham, UK

• 11 December 2015; Leighton Triplow & Chad Vindin; High Commission of Australia, London, UK

• 22 February 2016; Leighton Triplow & Leigh Harrold; Melba Hall, Victoria

• 10 May 2016; Leighton Triplow & Rhodri Clarke; live broadcast 3MBS Melbourne

• 8 June 2016; Kyle Stegall & Stephen McGhee; Berkeley, CA, USA

• 4 September 2016; Kyle Stegall & Rhodri Clarke; live broadcast 3MBS Melbourne

• 4 September 2016; Kyle Stegall & Rhodri Clarke; Music in the Round, Melbourne, Victoria

sCORE SAMPLE AND MEDIA

FURTHER READING

Leighton Triplow, who commissioned the work, has written an excellent article

Visions of Judgement formed part of my MMus (Melbourne) thesis, which includes an introductory analysis of the work and perusal score

Fantasia, for horn and piano (2015)

c. 9 mins

Score availability: Enquire

program note

This piece was composed for my dear friend and fine hornist, Alden Cai. Cast in a single movement, Fantasia explores alternation between two contrasting states – one of rugged energy, and the other of tranquillity and solitude. These states are not in conflict but run in parallel, sharing the same thematic material.

performances

• 19 June 2015; Alden Cai & Rhodri Clarke; Australian National Academy of Music, Melbourne, Victoria

• 28 August 2015; Alden Cai & Rhodri Clarke; Australian National Academy of Music, Melbourne, Victoria

score sample and media

sonata for flute and piano (2014)

c. 14 mins

Score availability: Published by Wirripang

Program note

The Sonata for Flute and Piano was completed in 2014. With this piece, it was my intention to compose a work of virtuosic demand for both instrumentalists, full of contrast and containing a wide variety of expression to give the performers an opportunity to showcase the breadth of their musicality. 

The work is in four movements. A mysterious, introverted Prelude precedes a humorous, flickering dance, entitled Badinerie. The third movement, a more expansive and outwardly expressive Romanza, is followed by the Finale: a fast, virtuosic show-piece to round off the work.

performances

• 20 October 2014; Kim Falconer & Andrew Frampton; Melba Hall, Victoria

• 23 October 2014; Kim Falconer & Leigh Harrold; Melba Hall, Victoria

• 28 August 2015; Kim Falconer & Rhodri Clarke; Australian National Academy of Music, Melbourne, Victoria

• 9 September 2015; Kim Falconer & Rhodri Clarke; Australian National Academy of Music, Melbourne, Victoria

• 22 July 2018; Hourglass Ensemble; Wesley Music Centre, ACT

• 28 July 2018; Hourglass Ensemble; Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House, NSW

• 6 July 2019; Kim Falconer & Gabriella Pusner; Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney, NSW

• 23 May 2023; Derek Jones & Jerry Wong; Hanson Dyer Hall, The Ian Potter Centre, Melbourne, VIC

score sample and media

further reading

Review of the Hourglass Ensemble’s Canberra performance by CityNews