Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Composed for the Harrietville Music Camp in 1990, with a new edition (2021) of Harrietville Suite orchestrated for Concert Orchestra. These eight movements can be played separately.as individual pieces or together. They represent different aspects of the music camp. The difficulty for each work varies. Each movement is developed from melody in a traditional manner.

1. The Gathering (10.43") Players came from many parts of Australia to participate in the music camp.

2. Saturday Market (3.11") (originally called The Plum Tree March - originally composed for Warrandyte Primary School Band). This is like English folk music. It reminds me of the Nutting Girl, the young girls walking through the woods collecting nuts.

3. The Magnolia Tree (5.10") - players under the shade of the magnolia tree. In the tradition of RagTime

4. Driving up the Mountain and Driving Home Again (5.08") - lots of sharp turns, particularly when descending. At the top the panoramic view was immense. Coming down I add another beat for the driver to apply the brakes on the tight curves. Hair-raising!

5. The Campfire Waltz (5.45")- for strings. The strings are so cool. They sit around the campfire and soak in the summer night.

6. The Rose, The Thistle, and the Shamrock (5.21") - the name of the gold mine with miners from England, Scotland and Ireland - for brass. Well we know about the brass. They always need to be noticed so I throw them together like modern day baroque music.

7. Along a River (6.28") - for woodwinds - after the poem by John Shaw Neilson. Impressionist work evoking the creatures that inhabit the slow moving Loddon river as it flows north to join with the Murray

8. The Hit and Miss March (4.28") - everyone has a go and they all end up playing in different keys, twelve different keys. Curiously in all the excitement this is not noticeable.

I. The Gathering -- II. Saturday Market (The Plum Tree March) -- III. The Magnolia Tree -- IV. Driving up the Mountain and Driving Home Again -- V. The Campfire Waltz (for strings) -- VI. The Rose, The Thistle and the Shamrock (for brass & perc.) -- VII. Along A River (for woodwinds) -- VIII. The Hit and Miss March.