Britten Connections - a guide for performers and programmers

Pascal and Ami Rogé premiere Hindson's 'Double Piano Concerto' with Ashkenazy and the Sydney Symphony

How many pianists commission a full-blown concerto to celebrate their wedding anniversary? When Pascal and Ami Rogé decided upon this unusual plan of action, Australian composer Matthew Hindson seemed an obvious choice to them. Ami has prasied the "visual" character of his music and Pascal admires the way it speaks directly to the heart, to listeners. Hindson talks about the piece in this extended ABC interview.

The Concerto for Two Pianos is premiered by the Rogés with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy, in Sydney Opera House on 12 and 13 May (the latter performance will be broadcast live on ABC Classic FM). It comes to Europe in November this year.

'Hindson has amazing range. He could probably wring a concerto from the sound of a doorbell. His source material ranges from classical to Metallica to soothing melodic riffs…'
San Francisco Chronicle

Boosey & Hawkes Online Scores - Available Now!

Boosey & Hawkes, the leading independent publisher of contemporary classical music, is pleased to announce the launch of Boosey & Hawkes Online Scores, which offers free online viewing of orchestral, opera, and large ensemble scores from the B&H catalogue.


Please visit: www.boosey.com/onlinescores

The launch of the new boosey.com perusal service features over 400 scores of works by some of the most celebrated modern masters including Bartók, Bernstein, Britten, Copland, and Stravinsky, as well as leading contemporary figures such as John Adams, Louis Andriessen, Harrison Birtwistle, Elliott Carter, Unsuk Chin, Osvaldo Golijov, Magnus Lindberg, Steve Reich and Paquito D’Rivera. You can also explore, for the first time, works by the emerging generation of composers including Michel van der Aa, Oscar Bettison, Enrico Chapela, Anna Clyne and Sean Shepherd. Additional scores will be added regularly, and the newest music from Boosey & Hawkes’s roster will be uploaded as it becomes available.

Each of these works will be instantly accessible to any user that registers to the Boosey & Hawkes website. Users will be able to flip through scores of their favorite works via universally accessible web-based software. Searches through the vast catalogue can be narrowed by composer or genre, and users can even bookmark score sections within.

Cross-cultural opera takes 2011 Pulitzer Prize in Music

Madame White Snake
An opera in 4 acts, based on an ancient Chinese myth. Scored for soprano, mezzo-soprano or male-soprano, tenor, bass soloists, SATB chorus, childrens chorus & orchestra with Chinese flute & erhu. English libretto by Cerise Lim Jacobs

Composer Zhou Long was awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his first opera, Madame White Snake.The opera, published by Oxford University Press, is based on an ancient Chinese transformation myth, similar to a fairy tale, which tells the tale of a mythical snake that transforms into a woman.

Zhou drew on influences from his native China, and the US, where he is now a resident, to produce the work, which the Pulitzer jury described as: "a deeply expressive opera that draws on a Chinese folk tale to blend the musical traditions of the East and the West."

The opera is a four-act work, which tells the story of a powerful white snake demon that surrenders her immortality in order to take on human form and experience love. It was commissioned by Opera Boston and premiered in February 2010 at the Cutler Majestic Theatre, Boston, USA, and an expanded version was premiered on 27 October 2010 at the Century Theatre in Beijing, China, at the Beijing International Festival.

Zhou said of the opera: “I feel this is my dream as a composer. This opera, I feel, is the summation of all my works in the past – chamber music, vocal pieces, orchestral, and choral.”



‘Zhou Long displays a stunning (quasi-tactile) orchestral imagination that dramatically demonstrates his skill of embedding elements of the two cultures in a consistent, seamless, and original musical language.’
American Academy of Arts and Letters

‘Zhou Long is one of a group of Chinese composers, brought up during the Cultural Revolution and now living in the West, who are creating striking works that fuse memories and music from the East with Western-style compositions. Drawing on Chinese folk songs, literature, poetry and history, they are the first generation of Chinese composers to be widely performed around the world.’
Newsweek International

Please contact us at ausclasscial@halleonard.com.au should you be interested in performing this work or require any further information.

Gerald Barry’s Opera - The Intelligence Park

A production of Gerald Barry’s opera, The Intelligence Park, widely regarded as one of the most innovative and compelling operas of recent times, will be presented in a concert performance at the Irish Museum of Modern Art on Wednesday 18 May 2011. Described by The Irish Times in 1990 as “the most original piece of music to come out of Ireland this century”, the opera is set in Dublin in 1753 and embraces love, power, prison and an eclipse of the sun. Presented in collaboration with Crash Ensemble, the production forms part of an exciting season of performances being staged at IMMA in May to mark the 20th anniversary of the Museum’s foundation in 1991.

The Intelligence Park, to a libretto by Vincent Deane, tells of a composer, Robert Paradies, who has lost the power to write but rediscovers it through his obsession with an Italian singer, the castrato Serafino. However, a triangular love affair involving Paradies, Serafino and Jerusha – the daughter of a wealthy merchant whom Paradies has been advised to marry but who is also the object of Serafino’s affections – complicates matters, bringing with it anger, betrayal and a conflict between private love and public duty.

When first produced in London for the Institute of Contemporary Arts/Almeida Festival in 1990, it met with an extraordinary critical response. For the Evening Standard it was “a clenched fist of an opera.” The Independent said that “the joy of the opera…is that it is driven by music of an energy and pace unheard of in most contemporary work. Barry...one of the true originals.” The Times said: "Never mind what the piece is about: it just quite shockingly is. It exists”.

A BBC recording of the opera is available on the NMC label.

Gerald Barry has written four other operas: “The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit” for Channel 4 Television, “The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant” for RTE/ENO/Basel Opera, “La Plus Forte” (The Stronger) for Radio France, and most recently, “The Importance of Being Earnest” for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Barbican, London. “The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit” has been performed in London, Aldeburgh, Berlin, Paris, Los Angeles, New York and Amsterdam. “La Plus Forte” has reached Paris, Amsterdam, Toronto, Miami, London and Dublin and has been described by The Arts Desk as the beginning of 21st century opera. The Los Angeles Times said that “The Importance of Being Earnest” was “sensational”, and “maybe the most inventive Oscar Wilde opera since Richard Strauss’ Salome more than a century ago.”

Crash Ensemble was founded in 1997 by composer and Artistic Director Donnacha Dennehy and has since attracted enthusiastic audiences for its adventurous repertoire. The ensemble has commissioned or premiered works by composers including Gavin Bryars, Arnold Dreyblatt, Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Terry Riley, and has also worked with Louis Andriessen and Steve Reich, among others. As well as performing regularly throughout Ireland, Crash Ensemble tours internationally. Crash features on recordings by labels such as NMC, Cantaloupe and most recently Nonesuch, with the release of Grá agus Bás by Donnacha Dennehy later this month. The ensemble is conducted by Richard Baker.

The singers are Sarah Gabriel, soprano, Loré Lixenberg, alto, Roderick Williams, baritone, Andrew Watts, countertenor, John McMunn, tenor and Stephen Richardson, bass. The performance begins at 8.00pm.

Tickets €20.00, concessions €15.00. Booking on http://www.imma.ie/

‘Barry seems particularly interested in the hysteria that creeps into systems under stress. He wants them not to blow up, but to lurch on, sucking anxiety out of the air and feeding it back to us. The peculiar tone of his work comes from the balance he strikes between dogmatic control and anarchy.’
Toronto Globe and Mail

‘Each piece by Barry is like a signature in music. It’s utterly personal and instantly recognisable.’
The Musical Times

‘ . . . sounds like a barn dance devised by a chaos theorist’
Tempo (on Wiener Blut)

Boosey & Hawkes Signs Sean Shepherd

Hal Leonard Australia would like to congratulate Boosey and Hawke on their signing of world renown composer Sean Shepherd. By exclusive agreement, Boosey & Hawkes now represents Shepherd's existing catalogue of orchestral and chamber music as well as future works worldwide.

Says Zizi Mueller, Senior Vice President, Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.: "We're delighted that this rising young American composer has joined the Boosey & Hawkes roster. "At a young age, Sean has accomplished a skillful compositional style over several genres, and inhabits a musical language that is deeply felt, complex and dynamic. We look forward to introducing him to generations of new audiences, alongside Boosey's catalogue of great composers."

Says Sean Shepherd: "For me, joining the roster of Boosey & Hawkes house composers, long a select group of the world's definitive musical voices, is a rare privilege and a special responsibility. I am deeply touched by this organization's commitment to and enthusiasm for my work, and I am gratified to welcome them as collaborative partners on my artistic path for many years to come."

Composer Sean Shepherd's "kaleidoscopic use of orchestral color" (The New York Times) has earned him admiration and recognition across the US and Europe. His recent works are scheduled for performances at the New World, BBC, and National symphonies, at festivals in Aldeburgh, Santa Fe, and La Jolla, and with chamber ensembles such as the Scharoun Ensemble Berlin and Amsterdam's Asko
Schönberg Ensemble. As the 2011-2012 Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellow of the Cleveland Orchestra, he will participate in rehearsals, masterclasses, and educational activities in the Northeast Ohio community, take part in the orchestra's Miami residency, and compose a new work that will be premiered during the Cleveland Orchestra's 2012-2013 season. Shepherd will also continue his post as the first-ever Composer in Residence of the Reno Philharmonic, his hometown orchestra, which is performing two new works by the composer under Music Director Laura Jackson.

Shepherd's Wanderlust, for which The Times (UK) lauded his "[use of] a profuse orchestral palette," was premiered in 2009 with the Cleveland Orchestra, and will once again bring him to Severance Hall with Franz Welser-Möst in 2012. Wanderlust will also be performed by the National Symphony Orchestra in November 2011, with Oliver Knussen at the podium. In early 2012, Shepherd will see performances of two new commissioned works: one for the Ensemble Intercontemporain and conductor Susanna Mälkki, which will receive premieres in Paris and Cologne, and another for the Claremont Trio at the opening of the new concert hall at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. In 2010, New York Philharmonic Music Director Alan Gilbert led the world premiere of These Particular Circumstances, commissioned by the ensemble for the inaugural new music series CONTACT!, to much critical acclaim.

Shepherd has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including the 2009 triennial Benjamin H. Danks Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the 2008 Deutsche Bank Fellow at the American Academy in Berlin, and first-prize in the 2005 International Lutoslawski Award. He has attended masterclasses at Tanglewood (2005), Aspen (2006), and the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme (2007), and held a composer residency in the Fall of 2007 at the Camargo Foundation in Cassis, France. Shepherd has been honored with additional awards from organizations such as the Sue Knussen Composers Fund, ASCAP, and the National Society of Arts and Letters.

Originally from Reno, Nevada, and now residing in New York City, Shepherd's (b.1979) graduate studies include a Master's degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with composer Robert Beaser, and doctoral work at Cornell University with Roberto Sierra and Steven Stucky. Shepherd also holds degrees in composition and bassoon performance from Indiana University. Also active as a writer on music, his commentary has appeared in Playbill, WQXR's Q2 online blog, and on the American Music Center's NewMusicBox website.

For further biographical materials and works information, please visit www.boosey.com/shepherd

Photo credit: Jamie Kingham

Orchestral offerings from Australia's finest

1 Australia is a land of diversity and this is reflected in the breadth of works written by Australian composers. The works of our great composers cover a range of colours, textures and styles that have enthralled audiences both here and abroad. Here’s a selection of new and existing Australian works to consider for your next program. BRETT DEAN The Lost Art of Letter Writing For violin and orchestra 38 minutes 3(I,III=picc,II=afl).2(I,II=corA).2(II=bcl).bcl.2(II=dbn)-4.2.ttrbn.btrbn.1-timp(=sm bells,toy bells etc).perc(4):I=marimba/steel dr/3susp.cym/med water gong/sm bells/toy bells etc; II=marimba/steel dr/3susp.Chin cym/sm tam-t/2tgl/rain maker/TD(or lg tom-t)/sm bells/toy bells etc; III=vib/glsp/3susp.cym/sizzle cym/tam-t/4tuned gongs/water gong(med-sm)/sm bells/toy bells etc; IV=glsp/crot(2octaves)/tamb/1tuned gong/sm water gong/BD/pedal DB/4tom-t/SD/hi-hat/t.bells/sm bells/toy bells etc-harp-pft(prepared)-upright pft(=cel)-strings(14.12.10.8.6) Each movement is prefaced by an excerpt from a 19th Century letter of one kind or another, ranging from private love-letter to public manifesto. Each title refers to the place and year the letter was written. The violin plays the alternate roles of both an author and a recipient of letters, but perhaps more importantly, the solo part conjures something of the mood of each of the different letters. ROSS EDWARDS Symphony No.5 (The Promised Land) For orchestra and children's choir 35 minutes 3.3.3.0 – 4.3.3.1 – timp., harp, pno/cel. – perc (3) – strings – children' s choir – recorded sounds on CD (Text by David Malouf) MATTHEW HINDSONDangerous CreaturesSuite for orchestra 23- 25 minutes picc.1.1.ca.2.1.cbsn - 4.2.2.btrbn.1 - timp - perc(2): tam-t/BD with foot ped/tom-t/BD/susp.cym/glsp/c.bell/drum kit/2 SD/vibraslap/2 mcas/wind chimes/shell chimes/bamboo chimes/bowed cym/vib/crash cym/tgl/whip/floor tom/flexatone/ hi-hat - harp - strings A contemporary take on Carnival of the Animals with nine movements including ‘Snakepit’, ‘Ants’, ‘Jellyfish’, ‘Rhinoceros Tango’ and ‘Big Black Bear’ (Movements can be performed separately.  Optional narrator’s part or own narration permitted). Great for kid’s concerts or just for fun! ELENA KATS-CHERNIN Wild Swans - Wild Swans Suite Suite from the ballet for orchestra 30 minutes picc.2.2(II=corA).2(II=bcl).alto sax.2-2.2.2.1-perc(2)-harp-pft(=cel)-soprano solo-strings This Suite includes the mesmerising Eliza’s Aria which has taken on a life of its own in the advertising world in the UK. A work of diversity, it roams through 200 years of musical genres, ranging from Hungarian Operetta through folk music and even including the influences of jazz and popular music. BRUCE ROWLAND Man from Snowy River 15 minutes 3.1.0.3.0.1.0 / 3.3.3.1 / 1.3.0.1.0 / 1 - strings This iconic Australian work is one of Bruce Rowland’s best known pieces. The soundtrack achieved double platinum status and won an AFI award. PETER SCULTHORPE Earth Cry For Orchestra with optional didjeridu Duration 11 minutes 2.2.2.2.cbsn - 4431 - timp - perc(3): tam-t/ch.cym/bongos/3 tom-t/BD - strings - (optional didjeridu - 2 insts required in Db & A) Commissioned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Earth Cry evokes the sounds and feelings of the Australian outback. Kakadu For Orchestra with optional didjeridu Duration 15 minutes 2.2.ca.2.2.cbsn - 4431 - timp - perc(3): tam-t/beijing gong/susp.cym/cyms/BD/ bongos /3 tom-t/2 congas -strings The work takes its name from the Kakadu National Park in northern Australia. This enormous wilderness area stretches from coastal tidal plains to rugged mountain plateaux, and in it may be found the living culture of its Aboriginal inhabitants, dating back for fifty thousand years. Sadly, today there are only a few remaining speakers of kakadu or gagadju. In three parts, the outer sections are dance-like and energetic, sharing similar musical ideas. The central section is somewhat introspective and is dominated by a cor anglais solo. Apart from this solo, the melodic material in Kakadu was suggested by the contours and rhythms of Aboriginal chant. CARL VINE V Fanfare for orchestra 5 minutes 2(II=picc).2.2(II=bcl).2(II=cbsn) - 4221 - timp - perc(2): xyl/glsp/wdbl/tgl/cyms/susp.cym/tam-t/SD/BD – strings The "V" of this title refers to the Roman numeral, and hence to the five minute duration of this little orchestral fanfare. Five minutes of music, even for orchestra, doesn't seem to warrant a much longer title, nor, for that matter, a longer program note. "V" was commissioned by the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and first performed by that orchestra conducted by Richard Divall on 22nd February, 2003. Descent Symphonic poem for orchestra 12 minutes 2(II=afl+picc).2(II=ca).2(II=bcl).1.cbsn - 4221 - timp- perc(3): 2 tam-t/2 anvil/SD/glsp/cyms/t.bell/bell tree/susp.cym/3 tom-t/BD - harp – strings The work is called Descent not just because the Workers live deep beneath the city, but also because of the relentless darkness of their lives. Their one ray of light turns out to be a chimera, and the only time in their lives they rise to the surface of the city it is with the sole intention of destroying everything in their path. Although their journey is one of ascension, as they near their goal they are overtaken by the lowest human instincts of anger, hate and retribution. As their bodies rise, their spirits are in hopeless descent. We would like to offer you the chance to win a Manhasset Directors Stand. Manhasset Music Stands are simply the best music stands in the world and are the longest lasting and most durable music stands in production today. Unique features include: Glare-free powder coating and a black textured finish resistant to scratches and chipping. Strong aluminium, lightweight desks. Constant tension at any tilt position delivered by the no-knob friction-tilt neck. The original “Magic Finger Clutch” solid-brass bearings, greaseless heavy-duty chrome inner shaft, to allow one-hand friction grip. Secure at any height, even with a heavy load of music. Stability provided by the heavy-gauge, all-steel welded base Guaranteed for 10 years. How to enter: Simply visit our Facebook page “Like” us and email your full name, organisation/school name and your contact phone number to ausclassical@halleonard.com.au to be in the draw to win. Entries close March 25th. All respondents will receive a copy of the Manhasset Quality Guide. If you haven’t yet “Liked” our Facebook page, now is the time to do so! In April we will be holding a “Free Give Away” week. Every day for a week we will be giving away classical books, CD’s, scores and much more. “Like” our page now so you don’t miss out! If you require information about Rates and Fees, publishers we represent or application forms please visit our website: http://www.halleonard.com.au/ Alternatively you can contact us at: ausclasscial@halleonard.com.au