Songs of lament and reflection

They advise The Elegy Project is "a contemporary chamber music ensemble blending classical, jazz and folk".  It's strange, yes, but beautiful and deeply satisfying.  Think a vocal dectet (a nonet on this day) singing Megan Washington or Lonely woman by Horace Silver and Leonard Feather, or a solo pianist playing Rachmaninov or Chopin's famous Funeral march then joined by the choir, or Joni Mitchell Both sides now, a key song of the '70s, played by a jazz quartet (on this day a trio of piano, bass, vocals).  This is a new group, directed on the day by Kimberley Steele with a string of renowned locals.  It's not a small chamber group given 13 names are listed, but a fascinatingly broadminded and exploratory combination.  Full marks for the mix of musics.  And there were some seriously satisfying performances, too.  Kimberley on solo classical piano and voice; Rachael on jazz vocals, deeply effective and emotive, and also joining in the choir; Chris just that fabulous bassist that he is, but then picking up a Telecaster to back the choir on one tune; Micah impressively spelling tunes and improvising, unhurried and purposeful, on a much nicer piano than I'd heard him on recently.  And the choir, some lovely voices, well intoned on some challenging and well arranged harmonies.  Gus is the drummer to come and he can only add.  I was taken deeply by this concert, the breadth and emotional expression of it all.  Fabulous and still very new.  If you read this post promptly, perhaps you can catch them at Wesley 3pm Sat 13 or All Saints 3pm Sun 14 June.

The Elegy Project performed at Wesley and comprise Kimberley Steele (piano, musical director), Chris Pound (bass, guitar, synth, director), Rachael Thoms (vocalist), Micah Knight (piano), Angus Henderson-Mack (Gus Henderson, drums), Emma Griffiths (soprano), Petta Lindsay and Neille Williams (altos), Oliver Bruhl and Cody Christopher (tenors), Martin Magill, Lachlan Rankin and Daniel Westbury (basses).

Of a martyred Roman and her slave

I've known Mike for quite a few years and it seems his compositional daring and chops just keep expanding so even though I was overwhelmed to think a mate had written an oratorio, I was not really surprised.   And I've heard his music.  The jazz is melodic with nice chords and satisfyingly witty lyrics.  Then his classical.  He put out a few albums of classical in the style of the greats, Mozart and Bach and the rest.  I first heard workings at our digs for a Moruya Jazz Fest.  Then I played in the NCO behind his piano concerto.  Now this.  An oratorio.  Think Messiah and the like.  Big works of song and choir and orchestration.  They presented religious themes at times when secular themes were not acceptable or suitable for performance in church.  It's a big work.  I was impressed by Mike, again.  It's big and costly to stage, so Mike presented a few public iterations of a video of the recording sessions.  21 or so players, from CSO and Coro and the cream of local vocal soloists; 9 hours recording over 3 days at Canberra Girls Grammar School concert hall, acoustically treated if still with some residual noise issues; 35-or-so mics.  And a religious story, of saints and martyrs from ~200CE, the Roman noblewoman Perpetua and Felicity, perhaps her servant, and several other free men martyred for their Christian faith.  Mike used her first person narrative, some Biblical quotes and some Latin from Ambrose for the text.  The music was variously influenced: Mike suggested baroque and early music and film music (he has also composed for several films).  I melted with the first introductory piece with a theme that recurs to end and sometimes during.  I was enamoured by the vocals, the clear soprano of Emma Griffiths as Perpetua, but her soloist offsiders were similarly impressive, Veronica Thwaites-Brown and Dan Walker and Andrew Fysh.  All hyper-known names in this field in Canberra.  They were chorally accompanied on some tunes by Coro, a blissful vocal collection of harmonists, and instrumentally supported by a string of CSO and related Canberra players.  Bassist Kyle was in line of sight with Emma/Perpetua so I got so watch him often, but there were lots of familiar faces to observe.  Suffice to say the music and singing really was of wonderful quality and often-enough spine tingling.  The whole work is one CD length, ~1 hour, 24 pieces.  Some were short and sweet, a father's imploring or a mother's lamenting or a martyr's injuries or a dream of Heaven and angels or a maid's protection given birth.  Interestingly, there are two key women and both have children here: Perpetua is 22 and breast feeding and miraculously loses her milk prior to her death and Felicity is with child, then gives birth, thus avoiding some form of death or other.  This is a story from 203CE Roman Empire in Carthage, of course, so we can observe how some things change and some things are forever the same.  The core martydom for emperor story may be of another world (although a speaker before the presentation would deny this) but the humanity of belief, family, conscience is common.  Mike has written a fabulous musical work and, as always, done it with love and purpose.  I am hugely impressed and often touched.

Mike Dooley (composer) presented his new oratorio called Perpetua as a video presentation of the recording session.  The performers were Emma Griffiths (soprano), Veronica Thwaites-Brown (mezzo), Dan Walker (tenor), Andrew Fysh (bass), Coro (choir) and members of Canberra Symphony Orchestra and others.

The eternal glory of JS

This being the run-up to Christmas, these were for Advent and again we were regaled with a generous program of four Bach cantatas. It was Andrew Koll's return with his rebirthed Canberra Bach Ensemble and it was several hours of great beauty and order and often of spine-chilling thrills. I can only hear the choral segments as a thrill, especially at the end of a cantatas, after the more subdued recitatives and arias. For when the chorus releases, all hell breaks loose. No, that's certainly the wrong metaphor, for Bach composed for the glory of God and these are clearly and transparently glorious, as well as gorgeous. I don't bother to follow the text (sung in German with an English translation). Perhaps I should. Just once I did, when soprano Emma and bass Andrew were singing to each other with quizzical smiles. I discovered he was Jesus and she was the Soul and they were pledging that their love would never part and committing to graze together amongst the roses of Heaven. Apparently, this cantata associates with a Gospel reading (Matthew 25:1-13) of virgins awaiting the arrival of the bridegroom. These are celebrating a central Christian feast, after all, and it is of a different era, even if the music doesn't sound out of place for modern ears. But I just listened. Enjoying the interplay of solo voices, the engulfing chorus parts, the structure and counterpoint of instruments with their ever-forward baroque motion. And it all sat so well. Andrew has drawn together a wonderful cast of performers so there was so little to query. I loved that double act of soprano and bass towards the end of the performance. I admired Leanne's busy violins and Dave's excellent bass part, sometimes doubled by Kristen on bassoon or Anthony on organ or Gillian and Clara on cello. I enjoyed the solo arias but especially the sparse, spacious recitatives, where story is told with minimal orchestration, just one or two instruments, continuo organ with cello or perhaps violin. And the choir of 27, occasionally featuring the tenors alone, or a soloist who walked out front for a role. They performed four cantatas, BWV 61,36,62 and 140. Someone commented that a concert of one composer is to be preferred. I'm not sure (I don't mind Beethoven with Mozart or even Glass). But this was just Bach and it was wonderful. Congrats to Andrew for a successful outing and for the renewed CBE. A great pleasure to be enveloped in several hours of such glory.

Andrew Koll (musical director) conducted the Canberra Bach Ensemble playing four Bach advent cantatas at St Christopher's Cathedral. Leanne Bear (violin) led the orchestra. Vocal soloists were Emma Griffiths, Chloe Lankshear and Keren Dalzell (sopranos), Maartje Seventer (alto), Paul Sutton (tenor) and Andrew Fysh (bass).

Burning cool

Let's face it. Bach is cool. The audience may not have been big enough and the hair commonly grey, but the four Bach cantatas played by the reformed Canberra Bach Ensemble were a great success and a huge pleasure. The cantatas were BWV119,131,138,34. All religious; I guess all written for Bach's weekly turnaround performances. Huge, complex works; riddled with brilliant counterpoint, often leaving tacets for various players, even violins; joyous and appealing or tragic and saddening; featuring solo voices or magnificent choruses. I wondered a feminist thought that had never entered my head: this is not an era of women's equality, but there are soprano voices and alto voices from women, presumably originally sung by women. Perhaps the orchestra of the time was all male. But the thought passed as the music again spelt its magnificence. Andrew Koll was conducting an SATB choir of 27, including four solo voices, also SATB, and an orchestra of 27. No small feat. The place was St Christopher's Manuka and the sound was heavily reverberating, the seats were wooden pews. I recognised many players and singers so virtually all local, and Andrew commented on the strong local musical scene (despite ANU's wobbles). The sounds were presumably authentic to the era, different from a modern symphony orchestra. This group included recorders and Cor Anglais and organ continuo and massed trumpets and important bassoon bass lines and early walking bass. I loved the solo singing, Emma's soaring soprano through Maartje and Owen down to Andrew's bass: the vocal ornamentation and the earnest religious themes. But the choir is magnificence itself as it raises voice, a towering beauty of harmony from many fine voices. So a smile breaks on your face. It's blissful at these times. Bach is cool; a big Bach ensemble playing capably like this one is a thing of great joy. This was. The event was introduced by the German Ambassador but unusually she returned at the end of the performance, turning to the performers to talk for some time. This is German but now everyone's music and the German Ambassador was thanking Canberrans for playing it. To me, this just confirmed the success. CBE is returning for four Advent Cantatas in mid-November. It's a busy time, but I can only suggest don't miss it.


The Canberra Bach Ensemble was led by Andrew Koll (conductor) and Leanne Bear (orchestra leader) with soloists Emma Griffiths (soprano), Maartje Sevenster (alto), Owen Elsey (tenor) and Andrew Fysh (bass).

Not just at Christmas

Handel's Messiah is a piece for all seasons. Why just Christmas? An expanded Coro with chamber orchestra performed it over the weekend and it was a thing of wonder. These are great voices with some of the best musicians around town. Performed with just two rehearsals and a full day workshop. And that's for a performance extending to 3 hours (including an interval). Reading this? I was overwhelmed by some of Kyle's quiet but certain bass playing, although he admitted some struggle in playing and just seeing it without a light during the darkening afternoon performance. It's not easy; it's not at all short or repetitive. What a reading job it was! And not just for Kyle, of course. The singers all had their charts and read the semi-quaver lines (a chorister mate in the audience commented on Coro's renown as sight singers), as did other strings and Calvin on harpsichord. The trumpets and timpani mostly sat, but when they let go, the roof lifted with life and the heavenly tone of baroque trumpet. Just not so often. Messiah is has over 50 numbers in three parts. There are choral segments and solos, recitatives and airs from sopranos and alto, male and female, and tenors and basses, telling the story of Christ, of birth then death then resurrection. So this is not just a thing for Christmas. These are more secular days (even if we still stood for the Hallelujah Chorus) but the work remains a thing of immense satisfaction and Coro did an immensely satisfying job on it. Not the huge 300-voice thing it often is, but a chamber take (1742 Dublin version). Just occasionally I missed the immensity but there was plenty of capability. The strings were strong; I strained to hear Calvin's harpsichord; the trumpets and timp were infrequent. There were various soloists, often from within Coro. I particularly enjoyed Emma Griffiths (soprano) and Andrew Fysh (bass) from the two ends of the pitch spectrum, and Paul McMahon (tenor) in between. The whole was led with plenty of energy by Joseph Nolan, visiting from St George's Cathedral, Perth. I can just wait in anticipation for Christmas when someone else will be taking it on again. I met a follower of Wagner Ring cycles (she's attended a dozen or so around the world) and one of the choristers had sung in 15 Messiahs. I could see myself attending a few more of these.

Coro presented Handel Messiah in the 1742 Dublin version at St Paul's Church, Manuka. Principals were Joseph Nolan (conductor), Barbara Jane Gilby (violin, orchestra leader), Calvin Bowman (harpsichord continuo), Greta Claringbould (soprano), Emma Griffiths (soprano), Rebecca Alexander (alto), Veronica Thwaites-Brown (alto), David Yardley (counter-tenor), Paul McMahon (tenor), Andrew Fysh (bass), Peter Tregear (bass) and Tobias Cole (choirmaster). Too much to list all the others, but for my bass comprehensiveness, Kyle Daniel (bass).

Ye olde Aussie bush

It’s quite strange to go to the Australian bush with gums appearing through the window to hear early music. Bush Baroque is an early music quartet, all viols and little organs and harpsichords and recorders. This concert was a charity performance in the music room of the home of the two leaders, Richard and Joan Milner. It’s literally a drive past the dam wall and through the eucalypts and take care for kangaroos. Nothing like the world of Guerrera and Byrd and Buxtehude and Telemann. Or of Godfrey Finger (that’s a new composer for me) or Bach, although they did perform a few songs by David Yardley, our extant local with a mediaeval musical bent. It seems strange, but the tunes I recognised, other than Well Tempered Clavier, were by David. So, it’s all a perplexing disjunction of era and geography, but beautiful music none-the-less.

The performers changed liberally for different tunes. Bush Baroque comprises Richard Milner, Joan Milner, Sylvia Shanahan and Rachel Walker, playing variously keyboards, recorders and viols. On the day they welcomed Emma Griffiths (soprano) for the songs and Owen Bingham for an additional bass viol. A trio started with a prelude from Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier and a sonata from Bellinzani, played on recorders and organ. Then Emma Griffiths with three viols for two motets by Guerrero, and four viols for fantasies by Coprario and Byrd and then Emma again with two viols for two songs from David Yardley. These may be recent (they are original lyrics put to modern music in mediaeval style by David Yardley) but they are memorable and true to form. Then the second half of a Buxtehude cantata from Emma with organ and two viols, a Finger sonata on harpsichord and two recorders and a Telemann cantata sung by Emma with harpsichord and two recorders. It’s beautiful music with passages passing canonically and courtly, witty, often pious presence and the olde tones of small organ and harpsichord and recorder and the frequent sound of tuning viols. I imagine stone halls or cathedrals, or perhaps rousing drinkers although not so much in this program. All strange for the circumstances of a house in the Aussie bush, but at least to finish, with a raffle for CDs and local wines on the deck, it felt right. But then, Canberra is a wonderful place of diverse interests and it is the bush capital, so what’s out of place? An afternoon of mediaeval viols and heavenly, embellished soprano is a thing of beauty and pleasure. Baroque in the bush is another satisfying and surprising local discovery.

Bush Baroque is Richard Milner (viols, recorders), Joan Milner (organ, harpsichord, viols), Sylvia Shanahan (recorders) and Rachel Walker (bass viol). They were joined at this concert by Emma Griffiths (soprano) and Owen Bingham (bass viol). They performed music by JS Bach, Bellinzani, Guererro, Coprario, Byrd, Yardley, Buxtehude, Finger and Telemann.