Resonate Feature Articles
In-depth articles discussing issues relating to Australia's new music scene
New for old - the thrill of commissioning for the viola da gamba
by Philip Pogson
Art reflects life and life is full of all kinds of interesting paradoxes. One of the delightful paradoxes for the Marais Project, an Australian ensemble formed in 2000 to perform the complete works of Marin Marais (1656 – 1728), is that, while we largely focus on old French music, we have learned at the same time to work actively with living Australian composers. In the process we have become somewhat addicted to the thrill of commissioning new music, regularly indulging in that delicious sense of expectation that comes from acting as midwife to a new work of art.
Moya Henderson talks about her Anna Akhmatova's Requiem
by Australian Music Centre
[Updated 26 February] Sydney Philharmonia Choirs celebrates its 90th anniversary year with a world premiere by Moya Henderson. I’d like to name them all by name: Anna Akhmatova’s Requiem is Henderson’s tribute to the women of Stalin’s Russia during the years of persecution and purges. In the concert on 31 March and 3 April, Henderson's work is paired with the 4th movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No 9. In this short interview, Henderson talks about the background of this work.
Ways of listening – an incomplete catalogue
by Warren Burt
'Yer stuffed. Not 'cause you're wrong, but 'cause you're looking in the wrong direction.' (Chris Mann, The Rationales, 1986)
This quote from the Australian poet and composer Chris Mann sums up a crucial problem in perception - the ability to ask the right question. In the sciences and mathematics, it has long been known that the ability to come up with the right question is as important as the ability to solve problems. Similarly, it has long seemed to me that, in listening, it's as important to be able to listen 'in the right direction' – that is, to concentrate one's attention in the right way for the given circumstances – as it is to be able to distinguish the various sonic objects one is listening to.
11th Annual Peggy Glanville-Hicks Address 2009
by Robyn Archer
The 11th annual Peggy Glanville-Hicks address was delivered by Robyn Archer on 1 September 2009 at the Mint, Sydney, and repeated three days later in Melbourne. The transcript extract below is published here with the kind permission of the New Music Network, with special thanks to Robyn Archer. You can read the speech in its entirety - including the missing first third of the text - on the New Music Network website.
Richard Meale - eulogy
by Andrew Ford
In Richard Meale we have lost a bold and passionate musical imagination, a curious, penetrating, original intellect, a profoundly caring conscience and a mordant wit. Richard was a generous colleague, a shrewd judge of music – and of people – and an honest and considerate friend.
Music really mattered to Richard. It was important. Not some deluxe item, not a fashion accessory, not an entertainment (or not simply an entertainment). Music might be playful, it should certainly be alluring, but at heart it was intensely serious...
Vale Richard Meale (24 August 1932 - 23 November 2009)
by David Worrall and Ross Edwards
Richard Meale influenced several generations of Australian composers through his music as well as his engaging mind. David Worrall and Ross Edwards both studied with Meale - here they share some of their personal memories about their passionate teacher.
Richard Meale's funeral will be held on Friday 27th November at 1.15pm at the Northern Chapel, Northern Suburbs Crematorium.
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