Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Anderson's "Miniatures" is a celebration of the small: from small creatures ("Ugly Ducklings") and things ("Toy Trains"), to brief time spans ("A Butterfly at Sunset") and shortened forms ("Précis" and - ironically - "In the Form of a Grand Fugue"). The opening miniature announces the generally light-hearted nature of the work with its up-tempo spoof of a famous work by Saint-Saëns (a man known for his down-tempo satire). There is, however, pathos to be found. In "A Butterfly at Sunset" we find the colours of a butterfly no more resplendent than when lit by the fiery glow of the setting sun, but we are also aware that this moment heralds the end of the day and - according to popular myth - the butterfly too. In "Vigil", anguished pre-dawn hours are echoed in the work, eventually to be banished by the arrival of a new day and renewed hope. Overall, with its structural similarities and musical allusions to "The Carnival of the Animals", Anderson's "Miniatures" might be seen as a small (!) tribute to Saint-Saens' masterpiece: a "Carnival of the Small", as it were.

Overture & Miniature I: Ugly Ducklings -- Miniature II: A Butterfly at Sunset -- Miniature III: Toy Trains -- Miniature IV: Vigil (Through the Small Hours) -- Miniature V: In the Form of a Grand Fugue -- Fermeture & Miniature VI: Musette & Précis.