01. Port Arthur. In Memorium (version with trumpet)* [3'31]
02. Djilile - for small orchestra [4'31]
03. - 07. The Fifth Continent+ [30'20]
08. Lament - for cello and small orchestra~ [8'50]
09. - 11. Little Suite - for strings [6'48]
12. Night Song - for strings [5'43]
13. Port Arthur. In Memorium (version with oboe)^ [3'15]
Mark Skilington- trumpet*, Joseph Ortusa- oboe^, Sue-Ellen Paulsen- cello~ , Mark Atkins- didjeridu+, Peter Sculthorpe- speaker+, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Porcelijn
ABC Classics 456 363-2 [recorded June 1996 & March 1997*^; CD issued 1997]
[digital download; flacs, booklet, cover and inlay scans]
Recording venue: Ballroom of Government House, Hobart
Recording engineer: Andrew Dixon; Producer: Stephen Snelleman
Another conductor for this release in our Sculthorpe series and the composer himself appears as the speaker in the main work The Fifth Continent. Dutch conductor David Porcelijn has been chief conductor of both the Tasmanian and Adelaide Symphonies.
Tasmanian Symphony principals appear in the two versions of the short Port Arthur - commemorating the tragic shooting at the Tasmanian historical site that occurred when this recording was being planned. This was the works first performances.
Sculthorpe's major composition The Fifth Continent for speaker, radiophonic pre-recordings (didjeridu and natural wind sounds) and small orchestra was first performed in 1963 and uses verses from D.H. Lawrence's Kangaroo. One of the composer's best known works Irkanda IV was reworked into the second movement, renamed 'Outback'. For this recording the work was substantially revised with the wind sounds reduced and the, now live, didjeridu part increased.
Although his work is often descriptive of the Australian outback, Sculthorpe was a city boy at heart, living most of his life in Launceston, Tasmania and in Sydney. Djilile is one of a series of works depicting the hinterland of the north coast of Australia and influenced by indigenous songs from Arnhem Land and the Torres Strait Islands. Originally a piano piece, it also exists in numerous versions and the version heard here was commissioned for this recording.
The Lament is a reworking of the original Lament for Strings (found on the Port Essington recording) made in 1991for an Australian Chamber Orchestra tour with the British cellist Raphael Wallfisch.
Again, splendid performances and recordings although this digital download, as usual with ABC Classics, came without any documentation. Luckily I found a copy of the booklet n an internet search and I have included that here, along with an online article from the ABC.