01. - 03. Violin Concerto 'Maninyas'* [25'32]
04. Symphony No.1 'Da Pacem Domine' [29'12]
05. Nocturne for Solo Percussion and Orchestra 'Yarrageh' [13'43]
Dene Olding-violin *, Ian Cleworth- percussion ^, Sydney Symphony Orchestra conduted by David Porceljn and Stuart Challender*
ABC Classics 4386102 [recorded May 1990* and September/ October 1992; first released on CD 1993, this digital release 2004]
[digital download; flacs, booklet, cover and inlay scans]
Recording venues: Sydney Town Hall* and Eugene Goossens Hall, ABC Ultimo Centre, Sydney
Recording engineer: Alan Maclean; Producer: Christopher Lawrence
This release features three of Australian composer Ross Edwards' signature works - all more characteristic of his familiar "middle of the road" style; unlike the genial Guitar Concerto and spiky Saxophone Concerto heard in earlier posts in this series. Born in Sydney in 1943, I tend to think of him as Australia's third living composer after Carl Vine and Brett Dean, although I also think of Dean as more of an international composer. Wikipedia says of Ross Edwards - "His distinctive sound world reflects his interest in deep ecology and his belief in the need to reconnect music with elemental forces, as well as restore its traditional association with ritual and dance." Certainly, as with Peter Sculthorpe, the influence of the Australian landscape, indigenous peoples, birds and insects is usually quite strong in his works.
The Violin Concerto 'Maninyas' is a lushly orchestrated, highly accessible, virtuosic tour de force and it finds Dene Olding - first violin of the Goldner String Quartet and for whom it was written - in his element. Composing the Symphony No.1 'Da pacem Domine' in 1991, Edwards was profoundly affected by conductor of the violin concerto and dedicatee of the symphony, Stuart Challender's serious illness to which he succumbed shortly after the symphony's completion. The work takes its title from the Gregorian chant Da pacem Domine (Give peace, Lord), a fragment of which is incorporated in the symphony. The Nocturne for solo percussion and orchestra 'Yarrageh' takes its title from an Aboriginal word meaning the spirit of Spring. The work is a series of episodes conveying a sense of timelessness rather than of time passing and was written for the soloist, Ian Cleworth, He was a member of the Percussion ensemble, Synergy, and gave the first performance of the work in 1989 along with the Sydney Symphony of which he was principal percussionist.
As usual with ABC Classics no booklet came with the download but I was able to put together one - the bulk found on the internet from an earlier CD release. At that time, Symphony No.1 was just titled Symphony. Symphony No.2 wasn't composed until 1997.