MP3 Topology - Big Decisions
Political speeches intertwined with Robert Davidson''s compositions. Jazz influenced spontaneous contemporary Australian quintet playing strings (pulse-based), piano and saxophone.
14 MP3 Songs in this album (45:11) !
Related styles: Classical: New Music Ensemble, Jazz: Jazz Fusion, Type: Political
People who are interested in Philip Glass Steve Reich Terry Riley should consider this download.
Details:
BIG DECISIONS: THE WHITLAM DISMISSAL
Robert Davidson, 2000 DRAMATIS PERSONÆ:
Gough Whitlam Member for Werriwa, former Prime Minister of Australia
Sir John Kerr Governor General
Malcolm Fraser Prime Minister
Bob Hawke President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, future Prime Minister
Paul Keating former Minister for Northern Australia, future Prime Minister
Joh Bjelke-Petersen Premiere of Queensland
Sir Charles Court Premiere of Western Australia
Tony Eggleton Federal Director of the Liberal Party Secretariat
David Smith Private Secretary to the Governor General
Peter Young ABC Radio 2 newsreader
Two unidentified women interviewed on the street
Unidentified farmer
Chop Chop John Babbage, 2002
Chop Slang for the popular local beer of Santiago, Chile.
Chop A not-so-popular (with the Government) tobacco.
Chops A common jazz term used to talk about technique and musicality.
Chop Chop? Two beers? Usually said when you’re telling someone to hurry up.
Chop Chop, hurry up or get left behind – also applies to the five musicians in playing the piece.
Paramell VI, Stephen Montague, 1981. Arranged by
Robert Davidson, 2000
Paramell VI is a chamber version of the two piano work, Paramell V written at the MacDowell Colony for Artists, Peterbor- ough, New Hampshire in April, 1981. In this version the solo piano is accompanied by instruments whose function is to only ‘col- our’ the piano’s sound rather than interact in the traditional way.
Stylistically the work stems from the American ‘minimalist’ tradition of Riley, Reich, and Glass, but goes its separate way. The extensive use of repetitive phrases and patterns exhibits a clear overall shpae of growth, climax and denouement which has something of a 19th Century quality about it. “Paramell” is an invented word used for a series of instru- mental works begun in 1976. Paramell VI was commissioned by Option Band (Oxford, England) with funds provided by the Arts Council of Great Britain, but first performed by the Philadelphia based ensemble, Relâche (directed by Joseph Franklin) at the ASUC Nineteenth Annual Festival Conference at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 5 April, 1984. The first British performance was by Circle (director, Gregory Rose) at the EMAS Sound Spec- tacular II during the American Festival, St Johns Smith Square, London, 26 May, 1985.
Schadenfreude, Kent Farbach, 2001
1. Sky Blue 2. Twilight 3. Schadenfreude
Schadenfreude has come to be one of the defining emotions for modern life. Its translation suggests a type of malicious glee or pleasure taken from the misfortune/s of others. Schadenfreude has many forms ranging from a type of sinister/revenge- ful glee to lighthearted laughter as experienced, for example, when one watches a ‘caught on tape’ television documentary. My commissioned work for Topology aims at representing this range of emotions from dark and malicious to light hearted. The three move- ments should speak for themselves in this regard. Experts say that a little schadenfreude on a daily basis can be helpful in relieving stress, so sit back and enjoy the music as it will actually be good
Paul Stanhope, 1997/98
Throbology is a short, exuberant work which features the baritone saxophone, double bass and low-register piano in an insistent pulsating groove. The piece opens like a machine snorting, grunting and eventu- ally kicking in. After the machine-like low pulses and high uni- son lines of the open- ing, the piece settles in to exploring motivic material heard mainly in the violin and viola parts. Overall, the piece gradually rises in register, with the so- prano saxophone sup- planting the baritone, and the other instru- ments exploring their more brilliant registers. At this point a new section begins, which sounds not dissimilar to a CD player with a skipping problem or a bass guitar riff gone mad. Here a flam- boyant Jimi Hendrix inspired viola solo takes over, adding new life to the motivic material heard earlier in the piece before the machine–like textures finally give way, and the music winds down to a quivering halt. Throbology is based on an earlier piece Throb originally com- missioned by Perihelion.
for your health.
RECORDED AT: ABC Ferry Road, Brisbane and QUT Music & Sound, Brisbane
GEOFF MCGAHAN: recording, production, mixing, editing, mastering
AUDIO RECORDINGS FOR BIG DECISIONS: ABC Archives. Thanks to John Spence, archivist.
BARITONE SAXOPHONE PROVIDED BY: Villanova College, Brisbane
DAVID KEMP: Percussion on Big Decisions
THANKS TO: Brisbane Powerhouse for photo shoot, to QUT Music & Sound for recording facilities, the Queensland Symphony & the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for piano and recording facilities
TOPOLOGY is Ensemble in Residence at Brisbane Powerhouse and QUT Music & Sound