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Martin Wesley-Smith's
2006 BLOG |
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an incomplete and opinionated ramble through miscellaneous events, performances etc in 2006
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Wednesday December 20 2006: from an article by Joseph L.
Galloway in The
Miami Herald, Sunday 17 December 2006:
This is the man planning, we're told, to send another 50,000 or so American troops to Baghdad, the man on whom Australian Prime Minister Howard has pinned Australia's aspirations and security ... For a moment there it looked as though Australia had a viable alternative Prime Minister in new Labor leader Kevin Rudd. But his sell-out on the Tasmanian forests issue - thus pandering to the CFMEU members who during the last election enthusiastically slapped Howard on the back in one of the most disgusting displays of short-term self-interest I have ever witnessed - has lost him any support I would've given him ... [later: I will support him, I've decided, as an alternative to Howard's Coalition government, and will work towards a sustainable forests policy ...]
* Sunday December 17 2006: Went last night to a concert at Trackdown Scoring Stage, Fox Studios, Sydney, presented by The Sydney Chamber Choir, who performed an eclectic program quite excellently. I was thrilled with their performance of my songs I'm a Caterpillar of Society, What is the Snark? and The Hunting of the Snark? (from Boojum!), We Thought We'd Lost You, Johnny (from True), and Lost Snail - but with other things, too. Nadia Piave, accompanied by Sally Whitwell on piano, sang a marvellous song called Amor, which had music by William Bolcom, an American composer whose music never fails to delight. Conductor Paul Stanhope (who is also a composer) did a great job. Congratulations to all!
* Tuesday December 12 2006: Last night the choir in which I sing gave a concert in Berry, a town near here. We performed a varied repertoire which included the spiritual Deep River, the motet Io ti voria contar by Orlandus Lassus, George Shearing's Who is Silvia?, Bogoroditsye Dyevo (op. 37 no. 6), by Sergei Rachmaninov, a South American song Prende La Vela, by Lucho Bermudez, arranged by our conductor Carlos Alvarado, a song from East Timor that some of us will be singing in a concert in Kangaroo Valley on Australia Day (Jan 26 2007), and a couple of Christmas carols. Went down well. I've recently been arranging Eric Bogle's classic Australian song And the Band Played "Waltzing Matilda" for soprano (Annalisa Kerrigan), violin (Jennifer Hoy), harp (Genevieve Lang) and singers from our choir. Some other songs, too. Information here. * Lyricist/librettist brother Peter and I recently wrote a bossa nova-style song for a fashion accessories business in Hanoi - details when the vocal has been added and the song released. I put it together with the help of Score Groove, a new piece of software I bought recently to go with Finale 2007. If you're into dance music, which I'm usually not, this software might be just the ticket ... I also recently bought a Rode stereo video microphone, which I'm planning to use to record the local dawn chorus (particularly noisy and abundant at the moment).
* Tuesday December 5 2006: Received an email titled Electroacoustic Saxophone, Dec. 7th, 2006, 8 P.M at An Die Musik LIVE! from American saxophonist Michael Straus:
* Sunday December 3 2006: I wasn't able to get to the first performance today of our new song Condoleezza, Fiddling by Wendy Dixon (soprano) and David Miller (piano) of The Grevillea Ensemble. Wendy wrote: "It started the second half and was well received, some quiet guffaws could be heard from the stage, usually that means there are many more in the hall that we don't get to hear up there ... We are singing In the Good Old, Good Old Days and I Knew Nothing in Campbelltown this coming Saturday at 2:30pm."
* Saturday Nov 25 2006: On July 27 2006, Condoleezza Rice was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at a summit of ASEAN (the Association of South-East Asian Nations). At the time, Israel was blasting parts of Lebanon, including suburbs of Beirut, killing nearly one thousand innocent civilians. Dr Rice, who could've stopped the killing, preferred to play piano at the ASEAN gala dinner. This is traditionally a night of song and dance, but Dr Rice was in a sombre mood following a diplomatic visit to the Middle East to check on Israel's progress. "It's a serious time", she said. According to Times On Line, "Dr Rice, who wore a red and gold outfit, was accompanied by a violinist during the recital at the summit ... She said she would like to 'offer a prayer for peace' before playing Brahms' Sonata for Violin and Piano in D Minor, Opus 108". Some might think that a bit of positive action for peace might be more effective than merely praying for it ... Yesterday I finished a song for soprano and piano called Condoleezza, Fiddling: I took the violin part from the Adagio of the Brahms Sonata, re-fashioned it a bit, and gave it to my in-house lyricist Peter Wesley- Smith, who came up with a lyric indicating what Dr Rice was probably thinking at the time. An excerpt:
It will be performed on Sunday December 3 by Wendy Dixon (soprano) and David Miller (piano) of The Grevillea Ensemble. For details, see here. * In today's Sydney Morning Herald, Mike Carlton writes:
So there. What an exquisite irony it was to see him and
George Bush at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation
meeting in Hanoi, hobnobbing easily with their hosts, posing
in splendid Vietnamese gowns.
Hanoi used to be full of the enemies of freedom intent on
destroying our Western way of life, but apparently not any
more. They are all in Iraq now. Plus ca change, plus c'est
la meme chose, as Vietnam's French colonial masters would
say over an absinthe or two in the bars of the Vieux Carre.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Quagmire, anyone?
If I ever develop reservations (hard to imagine) about a previous position I've held on something or other, well I hope I would have the grace to share them with others. Howard's statement is extraordinary, particularly as he's not talking about some arcane aspect of the motivic analysis of Brahms' op.108, say, but about a war that cost millions of lives and devastated a beautiful country and people. That war is still killing today, through Agent Orange and other toxic results of that war, just as Iraq has been effectively destroyed through the use of depleted uranium ammunition. Anyone not prepared to admit to previous mistakes is likely to make them again ... Excerpts from an article by Robert Scheer titled In the Shadow of Ho Chi Minh, posted November 21 2006:
"Yes," Bush said. "One lesson is that we tend to want there
to be instant success in the world, and the task in Iraq is
... just going to take a long period of time to - for the
ideology that is hopeful, and that's an ideology of freedom,
to overcome an ideology of hate ... We'll succeed, unless we
quit."
The lesson of Vietnam is not to keep pouring lives and
treasure down a dark and poisonous well, but to patiently use
a pragmatic mix of diplomacy and trade with even our
ideological competitors ... The lesson of the Vietnam debacle
is that yesterday's enemy is more likely to become today's
trading partner if we remove the specter of U.S. imperialism
and leave the fate of Iraq to the Iraqis.
James Tugend commented: "What Bush was saying to his hosts was 'We should have stayed the course and kept killing you people, so you never would have been running your own government and none of you would be here today'. His comments were greeted by deafening silence ..."
* Friday Nov 17 2006: One of the regular pleasures I have is reading columnist Mark Morford in SF Gate. Today's offering starts:
This might not be everyone's cup of tea, but if it's yours, click here to read the rest of the article and to subscribe (it's free). Last Monday we said goodbye to 20-y-o German WWOOFer Charlotte, who had been with us for a couple of weeks working in the garden in exchange for bed and board [WWOOF: Willing Workers On Organic Farms]. I have set up a web-site so that all prospective WWOOFers can check us out before they come.
* Friday Nov 10 2006: Have just received an email from someone who was at last Sunday's concert by CAMBIATI in St Stanislaus Chapel at the Sisters of Mercy Convent in Singleton, NSW (north of Sydney):
* Great news regarding the "thumpin'" the Republicans received in America! Not long before that, our dear Mr Howard, when asked if he would meet Al Gore when he's in Australia, said probably not - after all, Gore is an enemy of my buddy Dubya. How childish. At this time, Bush needs all the support he can get, but John "A friend in need is a friend indeed" Howard has already started to distance himself ... On August 15 we took delivery - from local sheep-farmers John and Suzie Ballinger - of a four-day old Border Leicester lamb called Popocatepetl. I've been bottle-feeding her from then until last Tuesday, when I took her back to the Ballingers', about 2km down the road. It was a sad parting, 'cos in those nearly three months we'd become good friends. But, next day, who should turn up but Popo! She'd managed to break out of the paddock she was in and come running home, bleating with joy ... later: Popo has since gone back to start, again, her new life, one where she's not a dog (as she believes herself to be) and doesn't get to sleep on (and poop on) an old couch on the verandah. In this new life she hangs out with other sheep, and sleeps in a paddock, and doesn't get her ears scratched before bedtime ... All New Zealander jokes can now cease. We've also given away our surviving gander, Arthur, who has been disconsolate since the death, a couple of months ago, of his brother Roger. Both Arthur and Roger starred in my audio-visual piece Weapons of Mass Distortion (2003). Popo is a descendant of the sheep that appeared in the film Babe, which was shot mainly at Robertson, not far from here. * Am working on a concert I'm putting on in Kangaroo Valley on January 26 next year featuring soprano Annalisa Kerrigan, violinist Jennifer Hoy and harpist Genevieve Lang. See here . It will feature a new arrangement I'm doing of Eric Bogle's classic song And the Band Played "Waltzing Matilda" and, possibly, a silent film, about passion and murder, featuring Dirty Dan, Fluff and the milkman, to accompany a performance of Belgian composer and band-leader Jacob Gade's Tango Jalousie. * Have been commissioned to compose a song for soprano Yvonne Kenny for the inaugural Kangaroo Valley Arts Festival which "will be held 20-22 April 2007 featuring classical and fine contemporary music integrated with the visual arts in events and collaborations never before witnessed at an Australian arts festival".
* Sunday Oct 29 2006: Last night's Fourth Annual Kangaroo Valley Buster Keaton Silent Film Festival, with pianist Robert Constable, was its usual brilliant mix of wonderfully imaginative music, humour and film-making. Great supper, too, and gluhwein, and community spirit. The two shorts - The High Sign [1921] and Neighbors [1920] - were hilarious. Not "a laugh a minute", more "a laugh every ten seconds". The feature film The General [1927] was longer, more complex, and more subtle. Not "a laugh every ten seconds", more "a laugh a minute". As Tim Dirks writes, it is "an imaginative masterpiece of dead-pan 'Stone- Face' Buster Keaton comedy, generally regarded as one of the greatest of all silent comedies (and Keaton's own favorite) - and undoubtedly the best train film ever made ... Filled with hilarious sight gags and perfectly timed stunt work ..." The evening raised funds for projects assisting the people of East Timor organised by The Kangaroo Valley-Remexio Partnership. * This afternoon Charisma played the second movement - pat-a-cake 2 - of my piece db. And Rachel Scott played (and sang) my piece Uluru Song at a concert in Singleton, NSW. But I couldn't make either concert: at exactly the same time I was attending the first performance, in Kangaroo Valley, of a new song brother Peter and I had recently written .... * A couple of weeks ago the community choir in which I regularly warble found itself joining choirs from Wollongong and Manly in a Wollongong Symphony Orchestra concert called Fantastical Classical. The program included the first bit of Thus Spake Zarathustra (the 2001 - A Space Odyssey theme); the Star Wars theme; a sanitised version of Peter & the Wolf; something from Phantom of the Opera; The Sorcerer's Apprentice; Land of Hope & Glory; O Fortuna from Carmina Burana; and the 1812 Overture. Populist stuff, but generally well-performed. We sang our hearts out, but we needn't have bothered, for the audience could hardly hear us. Why, one wonders, have a choir of 100 or so people from all over the place if you stick 'em up the back in a huge sports stadium and expect 'em to be heard, without sufficient amplification, over a full orchestra going full bore? Another thing: why not include even just one work by an Australian composer? Percy Grainger, for example, who has written plenty of stuff that that audience would've loved. Or perhaps something short and grand (a fanfare, if necessary) by a young Wollongong composer, thus giving her/him a bit of a leg-up and perhaps engendering a bit of pride in a local girl/boy and saying to other local youths that yes, you can do it too ... We were told how wonderful it is that Wollongong now has its own symphony orchestra and how it represents a cultural coming of age - but how proud can Wollongong really be of an occasional band of musos, mostly from Sydney, that plays music by composers who are mostly dead, white, male, and non-Australian? One more thing: people condemn me for writing "political music". But how more political can music get than Land of Hope and Glory?? "Political music" actually means "Music whose politics I either disagree with or don't want to think about" ... My congratulations to the Wollongong Conservatorium, and Symphony Orchestra, for the standards they achieved. Perhaps now they can work towards making the orchestra more culturally relevant to Wollongong, specifically, and to Australia, generally.
* Thurs Oct 5 2006: Went to Sydney yesterday for a concert/forum at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) with Ros Dunlop (clarinets) and Julia Ryder (cello). The program consisted of my audio-visual pieces Weapons of Mass Distortion, for clarinet & computer [2003, about propaganda and the 2003 invasion of Iraq], Welcome to the Hotel Turismo, for cello & computer [2000, about the Indonesian occupation of East Timor 1975-1999], Papua Merdeka, for bass clarinet & computer [2005, about the plight of the people of West Papua], and Merry-Go-Round, for clarinet, cello & computer [2002, about Afghanistan]. For information about these pieces, click here. * They say it's only a game, but the Sydney Swans' one- point loss to the West Coast Eagles in last week's AFL (Australian Football League) Grand Final was a bitter blow ...
* Thurs Sept 28 2006: I went to Sydney yesterday for a Charisma concert that included my audio-visual piece Papua Merdeka. Other pieces on the program included Akoy [2006] and Black & Blue [2005] by Stephen Ingham, Mass Destruction [2002] by Bill Alves, Nigel Westlake's classic Onomatopoeia, for bass clarinet & delay unit [1984], using a software delay unit written in MAX/MSP by Jon Drummond, and - the highlight for me - the premiere of a new audio-visual piece called Broken Reflections [2006] by Rosie Chase, once a student of mine. * Last Saturday I attended a birthday party for Antony Jeffrey, an old friend, founding Director of the Music Board of the Australia Council, a man who has done a marvellous job behind the scenes for music in Australia. My brother, Peter Wesley- Smith, and I wrote a special song for him that was performed by The Song Company. Many people asked to see the lyric - here it is:
The tune was fashioned over excerpts from Beethoven's Sonate for piano op 109 (one of Antony's favourite pieces). The piano part was expertly played by the artistic director of The Song Company, Roland Peelman. * After the American National Inteligence Estimate - a document prepared by sixteen intelligence agencies involving thousands of intelligence professionals - concluded that the invasion of Iraq had increased terrorism, not decreased it, our beloved Prime Minister John Howard said it was a matter of opinion and that he disagreed. And let us not forget, he said, pulling out a non-sequitur designed to deflect attention from his refusal to face reality, that terrorists had attacked Australians (in Bali in 2002) before the invasion of Iraq. And isn't it great, he said, that more and more reports are being declassified so that now, at last, we can discover the truth?! Words fail ...
* Sat Sept 23 2006: More sad news: our dog Fidie, an Australian shepherd, who had been ill for a week or so, passed away yesterday. She had eaten something unknown - probably unmentionable - which had given her an infection that affected her liver, lungs and kidneys ... * Tomorrow - Sunday Sept 24 - the Grevillea Ensemble (soprano Wendy Dixon and pianist David Miller) will perform my song Recollections of a Foreign Minister, a setting of an edited transcript of Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer's recent testimony to the Cole Enquiry into the activities of the Australian Wheat Board. 3pm, Crows Nest Performing Arts Centre, 6 Holtermann Street, Crows Nest, Sydney. * Part of my essential reading these days is the Australian e-zine New Matilda (trial subscription available h ere). Last Wednesday's edition contained an excellent article on so-called "Australian values" by the wonderfully- named Ezequiel Trumper titled Australian Values: The View from Howard World. Mr Trumper co-hosts a daily news and current affairs program on the only 24/7 Spanish-speaking radio station in Australia. He writes: "Hours after Howard World unleashed its Citizenship Doctrine, we invited our audience to respond", then quotes what several callers said, including the following:
* Talking of e-zines, I'm now finally fed up with the daily Australian email bulletin Crikey and won't be renewing my subscription. Their policy of ridiculing, even insulting, subscribers deemed to have left-of-centre views seems to me a strange way to build the dialogue necessary to build the business. Their main culprit, Christian Kerr, is being challenged by several others - principally "Peter Faris, QC" - for the title of Chief Ranting Right-Wing D*ckhead (my brother Peter was once called by one of them a "ranting left-wing d*ckhead").
* Mon Sept 11 2006: Over the weekend I attended the inaugural Kangar oo Valley Folk Festival, which had a great atmosphere despite almost continuous rain and wintry conditions. There were some excellent performers on the bill, with Kate Fagan and Chloe & Jason Roweth being among those I particularly enjoyed. Yesterday the choir of which I'm 50% of the tenor section sang several songs, including Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go? and the spiritual Deep River. * Am organising The Fourth Annual Kangaroo Valley Buster Keaton Silent Film Festival for Sat Oct 28 2006, Upper River Hall, Kangaroo Valley. As in previous years, the pianist will be Robert Constable, and proceeds will go to the Kangaroo Valley-Remexio Partnership (assisting projects in East Timor). The main film will be Keaton's classic train movie The General [1927]. * I've recently been in Adelaide, again, helping to sort out family matters after the death of brother Jerry. Am scanning photos and collecting together as much of his music as I can find, aiming to make a tribute DVD for those who loved him. * Have been invited to give a paper at the 2007 Asia Pacific Conference, hosted by The Composers Association of New Zealand (CANZ), Wellington, NZ, Feb 6-16 2007, and to present a performance of my audio-visual piece Papua Merdeka at the associated festiva l. My paper will be to do with music and politics. Abstract:
I am often accused of composing "political music" (always, as
it happens, by people with vastly different political views).
This paper discusses some of the pieces of mine most often
attacked and denigrated, particularly the audio-visual pieces
that deal with situations in Afghanistan, East Timor and
Iraq. Reference is made to other examples of music with an
overt political agenda - from the so-called "serious" area
(Cardew, Eisler, Nono, Rzewski
etc) to the so-called "popular" area (Bragg, Dixie
Chicks, Dylan, Springsteen etc), from the
right (Toby Keith and others) to the left (everybody
else).
*
Tues Aug 15 2006: Yesterday we received a visit from Hong
Kong composer
* Fri Aug 11 2006: Congratulations to Liberal MPs Petro Georgiou and Russell Broadbent for having the courage to cross the floor to vote against the Australian government's toughening of its immigration laws. And to Judi Moylan and Bruce Baird for abstaining. Mr Georgiou: "the most profoundly disturbing piece of legislation I have encountered". Ms Moylan: "I cannot believe that the citizens of this sovereign country would ever cease to wonder, nor would they ever forgive, were we in this House to acquiesce in silence to pressure from a neighbour on a matter so much at the heart of our principles of justice. I for one cannot remain silent." The bill was passed in the House of Representatives despite Liberal Party defections. There is some hope that it will be defeated in the Senate, where three Coalition senators - Marise Payne, Judith Troeth and Barnaby Joyce - and Family First senator Steve Fielding have said they are unhappy with the bill. [later: at the last minute Mr Howard withdrew the legislation, knowing that it would be defeated - a victory for the forces of reason and compassion ...]
* Sat Aug 05 2006: Have just read that ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope has nominated Terry Hicks, the father of Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks, for the Father of the Year award, a nomination I strongly support. Of course, Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, accuses Mr Stanhope of trying to politicise the awards. My friend Vacy wonders if there's a Low- Life of the Decade award. If so, she will nominate Ruddock. I will second that! In my opinion he is so low that he would have to stand on tippy-toe to kiss a rat's freckle ... Later (Thurs Aug 10): Mr Stanhope wrote back:
* Heard about a concert to be given by The Sydney Chamber Choir at 8pm on Sat December 16 2006 at Trackdown Scoring Stage, Fox Studios, Sydney, which will include some "madcap music" of mine (have no idea what ... I wasn't aware I'd written any ...). This marvellous choir, now conducted by Paul Stanhope (no relation, as far as I'm aware, to Jon), commissioned my piece Who Killed Cock Robin? back in 1979. * STOP PRESS: I went out this afternoon to feed the animals, as one does, and noticed that our old horse, Fargo, wasn't lining up with his mate Jarrah and the donkey, Wally. I went out looking for him, in the rain, and found him down the track, lying on his side, dead. We think he was 37 years old, which is way past the usual life-span of a horse, so his time had come. And he died a natural death. But it's still a sad day. Jarrah, in particular, is distraught ... [later (Thurs Aug 10): yesterday Dave Rebbeck came with his "excavator", dug a hole next to Fargo, pushed him into it, then covered him up. A friend donated a pencil cedar that I will plant on the grave.]
* Sat July 29 2006: For those concerned about Flashman, known as Flash, who's a dog and who recently tore an anterior cruciate ligament: he came home from hospital today after an operation to re-attach the ligament; he's as well as could be expected, but miserable at the prospect of spending a month virtually immobile followed by another month with very limited exercise ...
* Monday July 24 2006: Heard, yesterday, Wendy Dixon and David Miller give the first performance of Peter's and my song In the Good Old Good Old Days (see text below). Good performance, good reception! * In The Song Company's July 2006 Newsletter, Artistic Director Roland Peelman had this to say:
And during the first week of June we faced again the more
weathered and wisened version of the twin brothers for a
concert in Kangaroo Valley where both of them now live. It
looks like this is rapidly becoming an annual event after the
truly memorable concert last year. In spite of the almost
total absence of Wesley-Smith music, the crowd was again
numerous, enthusiastic and warm (warmed up by the mulled wine
served during interval) with several Sydney-siders traveling
up for the event (and a weekend in Shoalhaven or the Southern
Highlands of course). Keep an eye out for the date in early
June 2007!
* Monday July 17 2006: Yesterday clarinettist Ros Dunlop and I presented a concert of audio-visual works at IDEC (International Democratic Education Conference) in Sydney, an "annual forum for children, teachers, parents, schools, activists, individuals, organisations, government bodies and NGOs to discuss and share their ideas, concerns and experiences around democracy in education". We played and discussed Weapons of Mass Distortion, Welcome to the Hotel Turismo and Papua Merdeka, receiving an overwhelmingly positive response and invitations to present these and other works in various places including Brisbane, New Zealand and the USA. From the IDEC web-site: "In Australia, as in many other countries, school refusal, disengagement with learning and schools, trouble with families, police and the law, issues of drugs and alcohol, racism, living in poverty, mental illness and suicide are part of many young people's lives despite our general high level of economic and educational prosperity." To find out more, click here. * Last week I attended a concert put on by participants in the National Braille Music Camp at Frensham School, Mittagong, NSW - a most enjoyable, heart-warming experience. The musical standard was generally very good, with some of it excellent. Many people, including Ian Cooper and Roma Dix, put an enormous amount of effort and love into this annual event, achieving impressive results. * Peter and I have finished another song for soprano Wendy Dixon and pianist David Miller (The Grevillea Ensemble) called In the Good Old Good Old Days:
* Saturday July 8 2006: Have been in Adelaide for nearly a month helping to organise things following the death, on May 14, of my brother Jerry. In the meantime, The Kioloa Harp Ensemble performed at the American Harp Society's 2006 National Conference in San Francisco, playing my piece Alice in the Garden of Live Flowers. A friend who was at the concert wrote: "Happy reports and glowing praise ... All the pieces went really well, all the harpgirls were really focused, and all the audience loved it!". I had intended to be in East Timor at this time, but the need to be in Adelaide, plus security concerns in Timor, caused me to cancel the trip. * Note: an East Timor event, Sat July 15, Petersham Town Hall, Crystal St, Petersham, Sydney: 9.30am to 12.30pm, discussions; 1pm to 4pm: benefit concert; musicians to include Blair Greenberg, Ego Lemos, Jeannie Lewis, Maurie Mulheron & Voices from the Vacant Lot; 6pm: special dinner to welcome the new East Timor Ambassador. For more information, call Jefferson Lee, of the Australia-East Timor Association, on [02] 9519 4788. * A plug for the upcoming production Honour Bound, by Nigel Jamieson with choreography by Garry Stewart, from their blurb:
* On June 29 there was a chamber music concert at Hall of Christ, Chautauqua Institution, USA, featuring alto saxophonist George Wolfe playing my multimedia piece Weapons of Mass Distortion. George, who is Director of the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies at Ball State University, has been described by right-wing extremist David Horowitz as one of the most dangerous academics in America. Gee .... After a previous performance of Weapons ... as part of a lecture Professor Wolfe gave at Ball State University on Oct 31 2005, Ball State student Kyle Ellis wrote:
I should say that there's nothing snide about my "attack on the U.S. 'liberation' of Iraq". And I disagree with George that the piece is "little more than political propaganda". I wrote to him:
* Thursday June 8 2006: Last Saturday night's concert in Kangaroo Valley Hall, which I organised, by The Song Company was, as we've come to expect, brilliant! Their beauty of tone, their intonation, and their ensemble were heard at their best in the pieces from the 16th century (by Marenzio and Monteverdi, amongst others) and earlier (Machaut, Hildegard). Contemporary pieces included songs by Katy Abbott and Kate Bush as well as Peter's and my Freddie the Fish from Who Killed Cock Robin?. Seems my letter to members of the New South Wales Legislative Council has, with others, had at least a temporary effect: the legislation (Correctional Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2006) has been referred to the General Purpose Standing Committee Number 3 for inquiry before being put before the parliament again. Have done a web-site for the Kioloa Harp Ensemble's next concert in Canberra on June 27. For details of the concert, at which they will play my Alice in the Garden of Live Flowers, click here. Yesterday would have been the 65th birthday of my brother Jerry Wesley-Smith, who died in Adelaide on May 14. For an account of his funeral, click here.
* Tuesday May 30 2006: Have been writing to all members of the New South Wales Legislative Council about the Correctional Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2006, which has already passed the Legislative Assembly and is due to go before the Council this week. Amongst other things, it will prohibit so-called "serious indictable offenders" in NSW prisons from having their reproductive material stored, at the State's expense, should they have a life-threatening operation.
While I accept that serious indictable offenders, and other
criminals, should lose certain rights, such as the right to
liberty, during the period of their punishment, if we deny
them the right to store their reproductive material then we
also suspend the right of innocent people, such as spouses
and other family members, to expand an existing family. If,
say, my Dad commits a serious indictable offence, am I to be
denied the right, should he die in prison, to have a brother
or sister? If, say, my husband commits a serious indictable
offence, am to be denied the right, should he die in prison,
to give our child a brother or sister?
The Bill seems to me to be a petty, knee-jerk reaction to a
newspaper beat-up that prompted outrage from a few people who
couldn't see the implications of such a reaction. The rights
of innocent people, especially those already suffering
because of a relative's crime, must be protected in a decent,
caring society, especially now when human rights generally
are under attack. Once you start chipping away at the rights
that prisoners do have, their other rights will soon be a
target, decreasing the rate of rehabilitation and increasing
that of recidivism. This will be to society's cost.
If a propensity to commit a serious indictable offence were
genetic then perhaps a case could be made for this
legislation. But it's not. Why, therefore, a Bill that
punishes not only an offender but also innocent relatives? It
effectively allows "cruel and unusual punishment" i.e.
torture.
I should point out that ova cannot be frozen, making anyone
who has already voted for this Bill in its present form, or
who votes for it in future, open to ridicule.
I ask that you oppose this bill.
* Monday May 29 2006: Attended a performance by Tim Kain of my guitar piece Kolele Mai at Riversdale, Bundanon. Excellent! Its East Timor theme resonated particularly strongly, given the appalling violence that has erupted there. Last night I watched Answered by Fire - about the 1999 UN-supervised referendum in East Timor - on ABC-TV. The music included the folk-song, Kolele Mai, on which my piece was based. The film was beautifully made, strong, very moving ...
* Friday May 26 2006: Yesterday's Musica Viva "Australian Music Day" for schools went well. The Song Company sang various things of mine to illustrate the points I was making, doing their usual superb job, everyone sang a round I wrote recently - Little Johnny Longnose (see below), and Roland Peelman played, on piano, the clarinet part to Weapons of Mass Distortion, which worked really well. We did a section of Quito, about East Timor, which reminded us all of the chaos currently enveloping that poor litle country ...
Coming up: a performance of Papua Merdeka at West Papua - What Next?, a seminar on the legal issues facing West Papuans. It's at 5.15pm (refreshments available from 4.45pm) on Thursday June 1 in the Theatrette, Parliament of New South Wales, Macquarie St, Sydney. Entry by donation. It's being put on by the ICJ (International Commission of Jurists Australian section). Chaired by John Dowd AO QC, speakers will include Justice Elizabeth Evatt, AC, ICJ Commissioner; Dr G Peter King, Convenor, West Papua Project, Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Sydney; Dr Mary Crock, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Sydney; and two of the recent refugees from West Papua. For more information, email the ICJ or click here. from the ICJ-Aust web-site:
Brother Peter was due to go to East Timor last Wednesday. Thankfully he didn't (the situation there seems to be worsening by the minute - having just lost one brother I'm not anxious to lose another one) but, instead, went fishing in Darwin, catching, so he claims, a thirty-pound mackerel. Yeah, Pete, sure ... In today's Crikey:
* Tuesday May 23 2006: Am preparing a talk for a Musica Viva "Australian Music Day" for schools this coming Thursday; have composed a round - Little Johnny Long-Nose - that I want everyone to sing:
Tell a fib, would ya? Little Johnny Long-Nose knows what's what But he tells big whoppers and porkies. download it (36KB pdf file) for free here
* Monday May 22 2006: Yesterday soprano Wendy Dixon and pianist David Miller (The Grevillea Ensemble) gave the first performance of Peter's and my recent song I Knew Nothing (which sends up Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and his recent appearance at the Cole Enquiry into the activities of the Australian Wheat Board). Someone wrote: "Your song went fantastically. Huge response, lots of laughs, good belly laughs. Big clap. And then after the show finished lots of great comments from the audience ..." I'll be interested to see if Grevillea's audience continues to appreciate the songs (Peter and I are writing a new, topical, satirical song for each of this year's concerts) and whether the concept can be regarded as a success. Way back in the early 90s I suggested to the Sydney Philharmonia Motet Choir that they do something like this, but they weren't interested. If they had gone for it (with a variety of composers and lyricists), what a fantastic collection of songs there would now be, one that charted Australia's political events of the past fifteen years or so ... The remaining Grevillea Ensemble concerts this year will be held at 3pm on Sunday July 23, Sunday Sept 24 and Sunday Dec 3 at Crows Nest Performing Arts Centre, 6 Holtermann Street, Crows Nest, Sydney.
* Sunday May 14 2006: Sad news: my oldest brother, Jerry Wesley-Smith, died this morning. It was a shock, for although he'd been unwell for years, his death was totally unexpected. I will try to post funeral details here as soon as we know them. Jerry, whose professional name was Jerry Wesley, was a marvellous musician who helped me a lot in the early days, especially in encouraging my own interest and involvement in jazz. I owe him a lot. Thanks, brother J, for it all.
* May 11 2006: The Burgundian Consort at the University of New South Wales will include an early piece of mine, Two Shakespeare Songs, in a free concert at 1.15pm on Wednesday May 17 2006 in Ground Floor Room G17, Robert Webster Building, UNSW.
* May 9 2006: Organisation of the Song Company concert in Kangaroo Valley (7.30pm Sat June 03 2006) is proceeding (to book tickets by phone, call [02 4465 1299] or email me). Their program Drawing Breath was reviewed on August 27 last year in The Sydney Morning Herald by David Vance:
Inspired? Certainly. My dictionary says inspire can mean to
inhale air into the lungs. Another meaning is to stimulate
somebody to do something, especially creative work or the
making of art. So it seems fair to say that The Song
Company's current program, "Drawing Breath", is inspired.
Inspiring? Well, it's that too. The Song Company rarely fails
to excite through its consummate artistry, and the wit and
intelligence of its programming. Thursday's performance was
no exception. It provided an eclectic mix of music, old and
new, whose verbal and musical signs explored the inevitable
cycle of inhalation and exhalation. It celebrated breaths of
all shapes and sizes, first breaths to last gasps, amorous
pantings to stifled hiccups, boozy breaths, breaths horrid
and honeyed breaths, hallowed breaths, almost every variant
except stifled breath, though even that lurked behind
Stephen Cronin's The Violence of Work, a
sardonic portrait of humanity suffocated by a production-line
existence.
The director Roland Peelman, a resuscitator of early
music, infused fresh vitality into Guillaume de
Machaut's work (c.1350) and the even older Hildegard
von Bingen (c.1150) whose sequence O ignis
Spiritus began hyperactively but ended the first half
with the serenity of plainchant.
The contrapuntal subtleties of the Italian and French
madrigalists were audible in works by Marenzio and
Monteverdi, the latter deliciously scented with a
fragrant chromaticism. The early Flemish polyphonists found a
worthy living counterpart in Frank Nuyts, whose short
duet setting of a Shakespeare lyric and his assured vocal
treatment of an Italian text adapted from Racine were
highlights of the program.
Kate Bush in Breathing inhaled the same air as
Martin Wesley-Smith in Freddie the Fish,
their songs carrying a health warning, while Katy
Abbott's Cows' Sweet Breath promoted an
amusing if unproved elixir for longevity. Only the video
installation by George Khut and John Tonkin
giving literal and graphic expression to drawing breath
seemed to run out of puff quickly.
* May 5 2006: Italian flautist Emilio Galante recently played my piece Balibo, for flute & CD, in the Hall of the University for Music in Miskoic, Hungary. He wrote: "the performance was very successful and many found your piece the most interesting in the evening!" Balibo is about East Timor, which has recently been in the news with some distressing riots in the capital, Dili. Today's The Australian reports (excerpts):
Suburbs and the city centre were practically empty by mid-
afternoon as people responded to text messages warning that
the civil war that followed the 1999 independence vote was
about to restart.
|
from an email from someone there, May 05 2006:
|
This extremely arrogant and incompetent government, due to
its inability to solve what could have been a manageable
problem, has escalated things to this crisis. The
petitioners/demonstrators who peacefully rallied for one
week, up to mid-noon last Friday, are now being hunted down
and shot as "criminals" -- major violations of international
human rights laws.
Don't believe what RTTL tells you about displacement only in Dili. There are large numbers of "hidden displacement" -- including ourselves. Thousands of people are fleeing to the districts, but because they are not in IDP camps (e.g. Don Bosco, the US Embassy -- who've sent everyone home, or almost everyone -- even UNMISET Political Officers became IDPs in the US Embassy, how ironic, as apparently the UN has no security briefing or strategy) these hidden displacements are unseen. While officials above keep saying things are now "normal", "come down" -- the situation in the districts is very tense. Nobody wants to come down. The situation in the mountains is difficult: we ran quickly, so we have no provisions, no money ... On the macro level -- the government has been quiet, and according to their own int'l. advisers -- seem to have no plans to resolve this situation or negotiate peacefully with the petitioners. Predictions are that things may get worse. |
* May 4 2006: Finished and sent off two songs for soprano & piano, written for soprano Wendy Dixon and pianist David Miller. I Knew Nothing was inspired by Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer's recent appearance at Cole Inquiry into the behaviour of the Australian Wheat Board. Recollections of a Foreign Minister sets to music all the "I don't know"s, "I can't recall"s, "I'm not aware"s etc in his testimony to that inquiry:
It could have been It may have been I don't specifically
recall I can't precisely remember I don't recall I don't
recall I couldn't rule out It is possible I don't know I'm
not sure I have only a very distant recollection I don't
recall I don't think I did I'm pretty sure I didn't make a
note I don't recall I could have done I don't recall it I
don't recall I simply do not recall I would have made a note
of it and been quite focused I might have turned out to be
wrong I don't recall I don't recall I don't recall I don't
recall I wouldn't use that language I don't remember
precisely It didn't mean anything to me It doesn't mean
anything to me I wouldn't recognise him Nothing at all I
don't read the summaries unless I'm stuck on a plane I have
no idea I have no idea I can't recall I gave no such
direction I don't recall I didn't make any notes I just don't
recall I can't answer that question I can't recall my state
of mind I don't recall I simply do not recall I do not recall
I can't quite find the place I don't recall I simply do not
recall I don't recall I don't recall I don't recall I'd have
to reflect on that I don't recall I don't recall I'm not sure
I don't know I don't recall It is sketchy very sketchy I
can't tell you I wasn't aware There is so much intelligence
It's a very major challenge to deal with intelligence I have
no recollection of it I just can't recall it at all I have no
recollection I have no recollection Information flows appear
to be very imperfect I was not aware I don't know I don't
know I can't recall I'm not aware I can't recall I don't know
I don't recall I assumed I don't recall We had no knowledge I
can't specifically recall I can't recall I just can't
specifically recall It's very difficult to recall I'm not
sure that I'm not sure I wasn't sure I can't specifically
recall I don't recall I don't know I can't say I just don't
know I don't have any specific recollection I'm not aware I
wasn't aware I had no knowledge I wasn't aware I wasn't aware
I wasn't aware I just can't recall
[Quotes compiled by Hal Judge and listed in the order in which they were uttered; source: Crikey]
click here to download the score for free
* April 29 2006: Family stuff (to go to the next item of musical interest, click here): last Wednesday my dear old saintly Mum Sheila turned 90! We had a family dinner for her the Sunday before, at which everyone sang a specially-composed song called The Sheila Harry Married (Harry, who died in 1986, was my father). Daughters Alice and Olivia, daughter-in-law Sally, and ex-wife Annie handled the soprano and alto parts, brothers Peter and Rob joined me to form a sort of barbershop trio (brother Jerry was too ill to make the trip from Adelaide, otherwise it would have been the original quartet), my son Jed had his own part, and my grandsons Oskar (aged 9) and Bassy (aged 5) joined in enthusiastically, particularly Oskar with a trumpet solo he played with skill and aplomb. I have to say that the performance standard was pretty dire, but - and this was all that mattered, ultimately - Mum was thrilled!
|
The Sheila Harry married is admittedly no chicken
verse 2 (barbershop trio)
She regularly journeys to the Valley to inspect us,
verse 3 (all)
Dear Sheila (mama, ma) ...
She's been there, she's done that, she has seen it all
before
verse 4 (barbershop trio)
This paragon of puchritudinosity, this sweetie
verse 5 (all)
She's fallible, no angel, a flapper in her time
verse 6 (barbershop trio)
Although she's just a pensioner we know she's worth a
bundle
verse 7
We hope you'll join with us in wishing "Happy birthday,
Sheila!"
|
* April 9 2006: Last night I attended a celebration in Sydney in honour of my long-time friend and colleague the late Ian Fredericks being awarded, posthumously, a PhD by the University of Sydney. Ian died of a massive stroke five years ago as he was writing up his PhD thesis - The Development and Use of Computational Models of Creative Musical Intelligence in the Composition and Realisation of 'Death of a Dragon', 'Starmist', 'Violins in Space' and 'Spirals'. I was Ian's supervisor for part of his PhD tenure. After his death, composer and mathematician Ian Shanahan did a great job in putting Ian's work in order and submitting it on his behalf.
* April 5 2006: Yesterday clarinettist Cathy McCorkill and cellist Julian Smiles, of The Australia Ensemble, played my audio-visual piece Merry- Go-Round (images by George Gittoes and Alice Wesley-Smith, about Afghanistan) at a lunch-hour concert in the Clancy Auditorium at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. From a satisfied music-lover: "the images were superb on the Clancy big screen ... the audience ... (was) quite affected by the piece. I'm sure it's not what they were expecting, and they were very involved in the performance. I've never heard a Clancy audience as quiet ... such a fine piece"
Have started organising a Sat June 3 concert in Kangaroo Valley by The Song Company, one of the world's great vocal ensembles.
* March 21 2006: Soprano Wendy Dixon reports that Peter's and my new song Second-Hand Sale went really well last Sunday, with a recording to follow. See text here. Download the music (140K pdf file) here. And the Kioloa Harp Ensemble wrote that their concert in Narrandera last Saturday went really well, with a capacity crowd of about 160 very appreciative audience members, and that, similarly, their concert in Yass last Sunday was well attended with about 100 or so. There was "lots of positive feedback ...".
| They took with them a portable lighting system designed and constructed in Kangaroo Valley by Don Godden, John George, Peter Stanton and me: "the lights were just brilliant. Everyone comments on how perfectly suited they are to the visual look of the ensemble ... on the beautiful tableau they make with the harps on stage. Little do thay know just how perfect they are at their (very important) job too! ... (they) were a dream ... so unbelievably quick and easy to set up - and made moving to the different venues so effortless ... (we are) now contemplating getting them to the US!" The blokes are now contemplating setting up the Kangaroo Valley Harp Light Company and making more, on commission. |
Harpists Laura Tanata (obscured) and Alice
Giles |
March 18 2006: Last night I attended another concert by The Kioloa Harp Ensemble, this time in Goulburn, New South Wales. The program included a repeat performance of my piece Alice in the Garden of Live Flowers, for seven harps. Today they played at a festival in Narranderra, but I had to be at a Festival of Sedition at Huskisson, Jervis Bay, New South Wales, where Ros Dunlop, clarinets, played my Weapons of Mass Distortion and Papua Merdeka, receiving an enthusiastic response from the audience. Tomorrow the harpies play the final concert of their mini-tour in Yass (near Canberra), and Wendy Dixon sings the premiere of Peter's and my new song Second-Hand Sale (doggerel, but good doggerel! Well, not bad doggerel ...).
|
Ros
Dunlop and me at the Festival of Sedition
click to see a larger version in colour [212KB] photo by Susan Sluys |
* March 8 2006: Have come across another review, below, of Electric Cello, a CD of Australian works for solo cello & electronics, including my piece Welcome to the Hotel Turismo. The soloist is David Pereira, the recording company is Tall Poppies (TP180), and the reviewer is Mary Nemet (Strings USA, April 2006). See here.
Australian cellist David Pereira has firmly
established himself as an outstandingly versatile performer,
unafraid to stretch technical and musical boundaries. With
high praise given to his ten award-winning recordings such as
Cello Dreaming (TP075), Uluru (TP0960), and
Garden of Earthly Delights (TP113), Pereira ventures
even further afield in these works for solo cello. The five
Australian composers - Carl Vine, Roger
Smalley, Martin Wesley-Smith, Andrew Ford,
and Nigel Westlake - featured here all have a close
involvement with the soloist, from the inception of the work
through its metamorphosis to the performance. This recording
is not only a showcase for Pereira's considerable talents and
ability to explore the emotional depths in these works. It
also highlights sound engineer Christo Curtis's skills
as a techno-wizard. The recording is clear, finely detailed
yet warm, with a natural and unforced cello sound.
* March 3 2006: Finished a song for the Grevillea Ensemble for Wendy Dixon to sing, accompanied by David Miller, at their concert at 3pm Sunday March 19 at Crows Nest Performing Arts Centre, 6 Holtermann Street, Crows Nest, Sydney. Called Second-Hand Sale, its lyric is by Peter Wesley- Smith:
|
verse 1 Who wants to buy a used car?
It's all out of fuel, the ashtray is full
verse 2 Who wants to buy an old boy-friend?
Afraid of commitment, preferring to wait
verse 3 Who wants to buy a pre-loved Prime Minister?
A special today, the last one in stock
At death he will lie in state, mourners beneath
This bargain is yours if you quickly go grab it
|
download the music
as a pdf file (140K)
click here
for a MIDI file of the music
back to March 21 2006
Performances coming up in the near future include:
Sunday March 5: Weapons of Mass Distortion,
Peabody Conservatory, USA (Michael Straus, soprano
saxophone)
Thurs March 16 & Fri March 17: I'm a Caterpillar of
Society (Not a Social Butterfly), Conservatorium High
School, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Macquarie St Sydney
7.30pm Fri March 17: Alice in the Garden of Live
Flowers, Goulburn Regional Conservatorium, Goulburn
NSW Australia (Kioloa Harp Ensemble); for details,
click here
11am Sat March 18: Weapons of Mass Distortion
and Papua Merdeka, "Festival of Sedition",
Community Centre, Huskisson NSW Australia (Ros
Dunlop, clarinets)
3.30pm Sat March 18: Alice in the Garden of Live
Flowers, Narranderra CWA Hall, Twynam St, Narranderra
NSW Australia (Kioloa Harp Ensemble); for details,
click here
4pm Sun March 19: Alice in the Garden of Live
Flowers, Yass Memorial Hall, Yass NSW Australia
(Kioloa Harp Ensemble); for details, click here
3pm Sun March 19: Second-Hand Sale, Crows Nest
Performing Arts Centre, 6 Holtermann Street, Crows Nest,
Sydney (Grevillea
Ensemble)
* Feb 27 2006: Roland Peelman, Artistic Director of The Song Company, has written, in the group's February Newsletter:
Our last concerts in 2005 (A Free-Range Christmas)
contained no less than five animal songs by the Wesley-Smiths
and chances are that more songs will keep re-emerging in
future programs. In this sheer inexhaustible collection of
songs (in my view one of the most important contributions to
songwriting in this country) we keep finding little gems, and
some not so little.
At the moment we are in the process of making good studio
recordings of some of those songs - for posterity, as they
say. Included are some songs which Martin wrote without
Peter, a small matter which is generally avoided during
dinner conversation in Kangaroo Valley. Yet these poems
capture strong sentiments and some very poignant Australian
experiences: the words of a woman left behind in the drought-
stricken bush (Andy's Gone With Cattle, a Henry
Lawson poem), the final words of a drover to his mate
(Hold Hard, Ned by Adam Lindsay Gordon), the
story of a woman grieving for her lost children (Black
Ribbon, the title song from the Wesley-Smiths' large
Federation work from 2001). Indeed there is a tragic tone to
some of these songs, and even a sense of nostalgia when it
comes to songs such as Our Don with its
fleeting quotation of the Don's very own musical prowess at
the end. But the way they tap into the Australian psyche is
never less than beguiling.
Also, I must confess that it is giving me great personal
pleasure to record these songs with our singers, given how
close we have all become to the composer and how fine the
aesthetic line is we are treading. None of these songs are
grand romantic art songs and so they need to be sung without
the laboured artifice that so often belongs to that domain.
Neither are they pop-songs though and any cheap pop-idol
tricks would utterly destroy them.
Finding a natural, unstudied delivery, yet artful in its
phrasing and expression, is the great challenge and this is
something that The Song Company singers relish. Above all,
their voices have just the right mix of youthful glow and
vocal experience to meet such a challenge. Wait till you hear
the recordings in the not too distant future!
Some of you will remember the many songs by Martin and Peter
Wesley-Smith which The Song Company has been singing for most
of the last 21 years. Last year, a hefty selection was
featured in two June concerts to mark the twins' sixtieth
birthday. Some of us still have not recovered from those
festivities! And most of you will probably have heard The
Song Company sing Freddie the Fish at one
occasion or another.
* Feb 25 2006: Tonight, at 10.30pm on ABC-FM: New Music Up Late, a program that will include Peter's and my song Black Ribbon (about the Stolen Generation) sung by Mark Donnelly with Roland Peelman on piano, part of an interview with me that Stephen Adams did last year, and a recording of Papua Merdeka with Ros Dunlop on bass clarinet.
* Feb 11 2006: Tonight's musical performance at Yarrawa Estate winery in Upper Kangaroo River, Kangaroo Valley, was excellent! The highlight, for me, was the performance by Rachel Scott (cello and voice) of my piece Uluru Song, which she plays and sings superbly. There was also the first (and last) performance of a love song Peter and I wrote for the occasion:
|
I dote on you, dear, as a Chardonnay you're buttery and laden with fruit I cherish your Sauterne and Muskat full-bodied and spicy and cute
I adore you as Cab Sav or Traminer
You're as smooth as a Pinot or Merlot
You're a brut-de-brut prize-winning champers
|
from A magical evening of music and song, by Joan Bray, Kangaroo Valley Voice, March 2006: "The haunting Uluru Song by Martin Wesley-Smith was sung and played by Rachel Scott and the audience was spellbound ... Peter and Martin Wesley-Smith had the last say when CAMBIATI performed their specially-composed music and song tribute to Yarrawa Estate, the home of the award- winning Chambourcin wine, a fun encore that had the audience chuckling and all very determined to persuade this talented band of performers to delight us again, and hopefully for many years to come."
* Feb 9 2006: It was announced yesterday that the NSW State Government had decided not to raise the wall of Tallowa Dam - Kangaroo Valley has been saved from potentially disastrous flooding! This is a stunning victory for the local residents, who, through the Lake Yarrunga Task Force, have campaigned vigorously and extensively for Sydney to apply common-sense solutions to its water crisis and not to destroy, potentially, one of the state's most beautiful areas. See here.
* Feb 8 2006: Have been in Sydney recording some songs (solo singer & piano) at the ABC. Song Company members Nicole Thomson and Mark Donnelly have recorded, so far, Tommy Tanna, Black Ribbon, Sticky Wicket and Mabo, with more to come, including After the Storm, Our Don and Hold Hard, Ned.
* Feb 3 2006: Have just read a review by Michael Hooper, in the Music Council of Australia's Music Forum, of cellist David Pereira's CD Electric Cello (Tall Poppies TP180). Here's an excerpt about one of the pieces on the CD, my Welcome to the Hotel Turismo:
To the difficulties of cello and electronics, Wesley-Smith
adds overt politics. Welcome to the Hotel
Turismo concerns the destruction wrought on East
Timor by Indonesian troops. Pereira takes on the persona of a
waiter in the Dili hotel who has a liking for playing cello
accompanied by honky-tonk piano. What makes this piece work
is Wesley-Smith's facility with electronic manipulation, and
the humour with which the chorus is imbued. The space between
the live player and the backing CD, like the distance between
our waiter and the surrounding gunfire, is something to be
celebrated. Not to say that this piece isn't without its
poignant moments; the Bach-like lament is effective. The
ridiculousness of the cock's crow (which is heard throughout)
carries associations with a wake-up call (and perhaps
betrayal), an apt image to associate with the waiter's jazzy
cello playing and, of course, an analogy to the political
situation in which Australia is involved.
*
Feb 2 2006: Last Tuesday night The Kioloa Harp
Ensemble gave a concert in
Kangaroo Valley Hall. It was one of the most delightful
concerts I've ever been to! Well, OK, I admit that I
organised it, and had a piece played (Alice in the
Garden of Live Flowers, for seven harps - see program
note below), but judging from
the audience response, and from individual comments
afterwards, it was an outstanding event. The ensemble,
directed by Alice
Giles, consists of seven women (Alice plus Ingrid
Bauer, Lily Dixon, Genevieve Lang,
Hilary Manning, Tegan Peemoeller and Laura
Tanata). They were superb, with a perfectly judged
repertoire expertly played. There were three new pieces in
addition to mine - by
Ross Edwards,
* Jan 18 2006: Finished a piece for seven harps: Alice in the Garden of Live Flowers. It is currently being rehearsed by The Kioloa Harp Ensemble.
program note:
In my piece White Knight & Beaver, the White Knight
(Carroll) shows the Beaver (Alice) how one can make music
from snippets of nursery rhymes. In this new piece it's as if
Alice is in the Garden of Live Flowers (in Through the
Looking-Glass, And What Alice Found There), encouraging
Daisy, Daphne, Rose, Salvation Jane, Tiger-lily and Violet to
do the same.
Alice in the Garden of Live Flowers, for seven
harps, is another of my "Pat-a-Cake" pieces, all derived
mainly from the first three notes - a simple major triad -
of the tune of the old English children's song, Pat-a-
Cake, Pat-a-Cake, Baker's Man. It's a Carrollesque song;
for example: the fifth bar is the first bar backwards (Lewis
Carroll loved to turn things backwards, upside-down, or
both). Carroll portrayed himself as the Baker in his epic
nonsense poem The Hunting of the Snark. "Pat it and
prick it and mark it with B", goes the song: all the
names of the snark-hunters start with B.
"Hold your tongue!" cried the Tiger-lily (rebuking a Violet).
"As if you ever saw anybody. You keep your head under
the leaves, and snore away there till you know no more what's
going on in the world than if you were a bud!"
* Monday Jan 15 2006: Last Friday and Saturday nights I helped organise a showing, in Bomaderry and Kangaroo Valley respectively, of an excellent David Bradbury documentary called Blowin' in the Wind. David came to the showings, talking passionately about the outrageous situation, depicted in the film, where a secret agreement between Australia and the USA has allowed the American military to test depleted uranium weapons on Australian soil. I strongly recommend this doco to anyone at all concerned about the use, for any purpose at all, of depleted uranium. It is available on DVD from www.bsharp.net.au and www.frontlinefilms .com.au. For more information, see www.dusk-qld.info, a news and action portal for DU issues.
later: see, also, http://www.globalrese arch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=BUL20060122&articl eId=1777
* Jan 5 2006: Have just seen the following review, by Dominy Clements of Music Web, of the Tall Poppies CD Electric Cello (TP180):
Carl Vine's Inner World is a very good opening
track. The electronic sounds which accompany the solo part
are, according to the composer, entirely derived from
Pereira's cello. This is sometimes clearly apparent; at other
times the sounds have been treated so far beyond the cello
sound as to be
unrecognisable as such. This is not a criticism - in fact,
the only
disadvantage of this is that the session from which the
samples have been
taken seem to lack some of the refinement of the performed
recording.
Pereira's cello answers itself like a violin, a plucked harp,
like explosive
drums, like birds, laughing Hyenas or burning trees. This is
a remarkable
soundtrack, with some beautifully expressive cello lines
threading
themselves between the effects, leading up to a rhythmic and
ecstatic
finale.
Roger Smalley's Echo II turns the solo part in
three cellos playing in
canon, with delays at 2.5 and 5 seconds. The first echo is
placed soundstage
left, the other to the right, and the solo part in the
centre. This placing
clarifies the counterpoint, and the clarity of David
Pereira's playing
further heightens the effectiveness of this piece. The fact
however remains
that its concept is based on the use of antiquated
electronics; and the
essential predictability of this treatment on the cello line
makes it a
little grey and old-fashioned sounding by comparison with
some of the more
recent pieces.
Martin Wesley-Smith is only a year or two younger than
Smalley, but, 22
years after the previous work, Welcome to the Hotel
Turismo is a case in
point. This is the one piece on this CD with an electronic
backing track
which has been manufactured from sounds other than the cello,
and right from
the start we get 'Timor', the location of this now derelict
hotel, sung over
the sound of vandals' stones crashing through glass. The
title is then wryly
and dryly sung and pronounced over a Conlon Nancarrow-like
bar piano and
cello Tango, 'although we're always full, we will make you
comfortable ...' and
you just know you're in for a good time. Wesley-Smith's notes
on this piece
set the scene admirably, and our imaginations are set alight
by the music as
if we were reading an old colonial story by Grahame Greene.
There's a little
of David Jaffe's 'Silicon Valley Breakdown' world in this for
me, in the
sense of humour, but also in the swift and unexpected, but
ultimately always
logical and structured twists and turns. The cello joins
Nancarrow's bar
piano in some wonderful nostalgic wallowing (I spotted at
least one quote -
is that 'Feelings'?), and time and place breathe over us like
a sepia
picture in sound - all ticking clocks, newsreel chanting and
strange,
echoing voices, gunshots, a crowing cockerel. This piece goes
to show how it
is possible to create an effective concr_te tape
accompaniment to a live
instrument. There are enough musical clues and cues to
integrate the cello
part, and plenty of emotional movement - from surrealist
cartoon soundtrack
humour, through sheer good music, political statement and
tragic irony - I
love it.
Andrew Ford's Memorial refers to the handing
back of 'Uluru' (Ayers Rock) to
its traditional guardians (the booklet says 'owners', but
that's another
debate). Ford wrestled with his reluctance to engage with
Aboriginal
culture, but ultimately, seeing Uluru's physical presence as
a kind of
memorial, almost a cenotaph in the middle of Australia,
expressed this
partly as a lament, partly as a celebration of the strength
and endurance of
the Aboriginal people. The cello is treated with a delay
which in fact makes
it sound as if it is placed in a vast acoustic. The echoes
come to us as if
from the inside of caverns measureless to man, and to me very
movingly
express the loneliness and incredible hugeness of the
Australian outback.
Onomatopoeia by Nigel Westlake was originally
written for bass clarinet and
delay, and was adapted for cello with the assistance of David
Pereira. This
is not 'just another delay piece' as I was fearing. It uses
the digital
delay not only for repeating the cello line, but for holding
musical moments
in repeated ostinati - a little like Terry Riley's early
work, and with some
similar sunshine harmonies to complete the comparison. The
improvisatory
nature of the music works well over the rhythmic soundbed of
these delay
patterns, and provide a fitting conclusion to this marvellous
disc.
The freshness and energy of this production leap at you from
your
loudspeakers. While not all the composers are Australian, to
me the whole
thing exudes Australianness, providing a sizeable window into
the musical
potential there. I had my own little musical performing tour
of that land a
year or so ago, and the impressions I gained then have been
reinforced by
this disc. If you will excuse me quoting from one of my own
stories: "The
greens are greener, the skies seem blue beyond blueness, and
at night the
moon and stars appear watchful and friendly, as if they sense
a hope for the
future which the northern hemisphere has already wasted." You
want a little
bit of that in your own home, surely?
This CD is a rich treasure-trove of new and not-so new work
for cello and
electronics. Only one of the pieces here uses sounds other
than David
Pereira's cello as a source for the electronics, but the
character and
diversity of the pieces always kept me involved, and
sometimes left me
jaw-droppingly impressed.
Am currently writing a piece, and organising a concert, for The Kioloa Harp Ensemble. Seven harps! See here.
Appendix [February 23 2007]
Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties concerning the Agreement between Australia and the Republic of Indonesia on the Framework for Security Cooperation:
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Like many other Australians, I have been critical of aspects of the Republic of Indonesia's performance in East Timor and West Papua. My criticisms have been directed not at the Indonesian people, or bureaucracy, or, even Government, but at the army - the TNI. Thus I am alarmed to read that the Agreement proposes "the closest professional cooperation between (Indonesia's and our) Defence Forces".
On the surface, this would appear to be a good move. But there is not the slightest evidence that the close professional cooperation that Indonesia's and our Defence Forces have enjoyed in the past has had any effect in reducing the TNI's savagery in its dealings with the people of East Timor and West Papua. Not a single TNI officer has been called to account for any of the atrocities committed in East Timor during Indonesia's 24-year occupation. As we are currently learning at the New South Wales Coroner's Court, Indonesian forces murdered five journalists working for Australian news services back in 1975, plus Australian newsman Roger East, yet the TNI has consistently denied, and escaped, all responsibility. It appears that the TNI is pursuing the same disastrous policies and methods in West Papua as it did in East Timor - disastrous for the indigenous people, for the environment, and for the Indonesian Government but not at all for the TNI itself, which has made vast profits from illegal logging, corrupt business practices, prostitution rackets etc. During all this, successive Australian Governments have maintained a "softly, softly" approach, claiming that this is a better way to address Australian concerns about human rights and other abuse by the TNI. Well, news for you, Gareth: this approach failed miserably. If anything, it has made the situation worse. It's time now for us to stand up, publicly, for what we believe in. No need to hector, necessarily, but to state our case in a spirit of co-operation and solidarity and to let the Indonesians state theirs. As things stand, the TNI is free to commit any atrocity it likes, knowing that Australian and other governments, eager to appease the world's largest Muslim nation, will turn a blind eye. If once, just once, its atrocities were forcefully condemned by the Australian Government, then perhaps it would think twice about committing more of them. But, instead, its behaviour is rewarded, with a security agreement to provide official cover. Other benefits include trips to Australia (and America and Britain), which allow the Generals to check their real estate holdings in Perth and elsewhere. Many officers of the TNI are "terrorists in uniform", to borrow Sister Susan Connolly's memorable description - what a strange world it is where Australia co-operates with and supports terrorists in order to maintain its security. The TNI operates a protection racket, and Australia, as always, meekly gives in. It is clear that this AGREEMENT was spurred on by Indonesia's concern for its "territorial integrity", meaning its concern that West Papua might follow East Timor's example. In my view, if Indonesia's "territorial integrity" is any of our business then our position should be to support the indigenous West Papuans' desire for independence. The so-called Act of Free Choice was nothing of the sort but was accepted as such by a Western world governed by Cold War rhetoric and, just as it is now, eager to appease Indonesia. I accept, however, that the indigenous West Papuan people have little hope of getting their country back. In this situation, Australia, rather than support the TNI's murderous attacks on local people - which it effectively does through this AGREEMENT - should do everything possible on behalf of the victims. Richard Woolcott and others maintain, as they did in 1975, that Australian diplomacy is about Australia's interests. I agree, but I ask "Are we talking here about Australia's short-term, medium-term, or long-term interests?" One might argue that this AGREEMENT is in Australia's short-term security and commercial interests (although a disaster for indigenous West Papuans). But the possible long-term ramifications are frightening: a large acquisitive Indonesian island (the TNI could easily gobble up Papua New Guinea) immediately to our north, greedily looking south ... A few years ago terrorism against Western countries and interests was unheard of. When it arrived, it was directed against the USA as a result of that country's interference in the affairs of others - its support for right-wing dictators, death squads, assassinations of popularly-elected presidents, holy warriors fighting against the Soviets, and so on. It is called, by some, "blowback". Australia would have escaped terrorist attack had we stood up on principle against the USA's actions. But, instead, frightened little country that we are, we eagerly sought the role of Deputy Sheriff to the USA in this region, thus guaranteeing that we too would be a target of religious extremists. The perception of many Muslims, if not the reality, is that America is waging a crusade against Islam (this was once admitted but then immediately denied by President Bush). By extension, so is Australia, a perception reinforced by our enthusiastic participation in the illegal invasion of Iraq. What, now, is the best defence against Muslim extremists' desire for revenge? To go to bed with what is in effect a Muslim army? Surely the time has come for us to stand up on principle - on the moral principles that we, as a supposed Christian country, espouse - and decry injustice wherever we see it, to put into effect our so-called "Australian values" - e.g. standing up for the little man - and to be truly independent, a force for good, for compassion, for human rights? Why is the solution necessarily a military one? Where in this AGREEMENT is there any mention of co-operation between the ordinary people of Indonesia and Australia through the arts, say, or sport, or education, or community activities at a grass roots level? I believe that activities in these areas are the best defence against terrorist attack. I was recently in Wellington, New Zealand, where I attended a performance of a wayang kulit (Javanese shadow puppet play). It was marvellous! Performed in English, it was funny, topical, satirical - a hugely enjoyable production, complete with gamelan orchestra consisting entirely of native New Zealanders. This is what we should be aiming for: bilateral cultural endeavours that allow each culture to understand the other. Instead, we seek bilateral military endeavours, which is a complete failure of our imagination. In Wellington I talked to an officer of the Indonesian Embassy there, stressing that my criticisms were directed at the TNI and not at ordinary Indonesians. He agreed, in private, that the TNI caused the diplomats no end of trouble and that at least some of my criticisms were valid. I see that this AGREEMENT seeks to strengthen "bilateral nuclear cooperation for peaceful purposes" (clause 17), pre-empting the debate that Australians need to have about the use of nuclear energy. It is not yet, I hope, a foregone conclusion that Australians will opt for a nuclear energy future. If we do not then we will hardly be in a position to strengthen "bilateral nuclear cooperation". My final point is that this AGREEMENT could easily constitute a threat to Australian democracy. Under ARTICLE 2, PRINCIPLES, we read:
What does "support" mean here? If an Australian, say, were to demonstrate about TNI atrocities against the indigenous population of West Papua, would Australia be supporting these activities merely by not preventing them? I fear that this AGREEMENT could be used to justify further attacks (similar to those contained in the Sedition legislation) against the free speech and other rights of Australians. Artists will steer clear of Indonesian subjects in their plays, paintings etc. Self-censorship - already rife in Australia amongst people fearful of incurring official displeasure - will spread still further. I believe that a robust democracy should welcome alternative views, discussion, debate etc, not try to stifle them. In conclusion, I too want the best possible security for Australia and Australians. But I believe that going down the same old path - the one that has manifestly failed us so far - is bound not only to fail in its stated objective but to threaten our own values. I think that if an AGREEMENT is to be reached at all - and I'm not convinced that a formal agreement is necessary - then a new one should be negotiated: one that emphasises cultural links between our countries; one that recognises the need for mutual cultural (artistic, religious, gastronomic etc) understanding; one that honestly recognises our differences and seeks, where necessary, to accommodate them; one that recognises each other's security concerns and needs from a long-term perspective ...
Martin Wesley-Smith
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