We take a look at some of the greatest composers who have scored for the silver screen.

While the theory is decades old, the new site claims that Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonatas contain African polyrhythms.

Theory versus practice? Sally Whitwell weighs in on what exactly being a composer is all about. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Australia's finest musical minds tell us what they think makes our top 10 truly great.

Paul Saintilan, Dean of Melbourne’s Collarts, reflects on what it was like to study with him. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Australia’s most respected and revered composer passes at 85 after a period of illness. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

A visit with the composer who, in a career spanning six decades, has come to define Australian classical music.

A finishing school for composers of orchestral music has existed for some time in Australia, and most of our renowned composers are alumni. For the past eight years, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra has hosted it with financial support of Symphony Australia. I received my first book on orchestration (by Walter Piston for those taking notes) as a teenager, and was fascinated with the idea of manipulating the sonorities of an entire orchestra. That fascination has never left me (although the copy of the Piston has – if you have it, please return it). Last year I submitted a score for the TSO Composers’ School which was not accepted, but I did take up an invitation to spend a few days in Hobart as an observer. This 2013 experience taught me a great many valuable things, not least of which was an understanding of the criteria my music would have to meet to be accepted the following year. This could be called ‘the invisible brief’ and is a familiar enough idea to artists in all media. The score of my piece ‘Angelus’ was submitted in January and accepted. This made me extremely excited. Soon after my tutor for this event, the…

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Driving to the Sydney Opera House the other day, I became aware of the number of signs and directions along the way. Speed signs, Go Back You Are Going the Wrong Way signs, merge carefully signs, reduce speed signs. As I merged and indicated and sped as directed I had a sense that two aspects of my life had also merged – driving in Australia is like playing a page of classical music, with the government composer telling us what to do and when to do it. Rallentando here, softer there, play with passion here, don’t overtake the bassoons on the left there. All composers give performance information in their scores, but some go way overboard in their directions. Mahler was probably the worst, his symphonies littered with lengthy Germanic directions. In one symphony he writes: “An dieser Stelle wirken die Posaunen, Violinen und Viol. nur im Notfalle mit, wenn es gilt den Chor vor “Fallen” zu bewahren” (In this passage the trombones, violins and violas should play only if necessary to keep the chorus from going flat). What excellent advice, once you’ve hired a German translator to work out what he was saying. Here’s another: “Muss so schwach erklingen,…

Festivals – they’re quite a beast to be part of the core creative team of. I’m just off the back of my 3rd festival I’ve ever directed – New Wave: Sound for Vivid at Seymour 2014. This team develops plans about a year to 18 months in advance… for Bellingen Music Festival (an annual event taking place in September), we’re currently planning 2015 now… approximately 16 months advance. Some think this is too much advance, others think this is too little time to mount a decent event – well I say this depends on your experience and what you’re setting out to achieve. You may wonder, what goes into planning the artistic content of a festival? I’m not sure what all the other festival directors in Australia do, but I’ll relate to how I approach it. Like any project there has to be clear definitions of objectives, scope and resources from the outset. What is unclear, though, is exactly when the outset is. The artistic ideas may start germinating years in advance – I’d say decades but I’ve only been directing events for about 10 years; I’m sure as I get into my 30s, I’ll produce events from some of…

Holly Harrison was “surprised and excited” when her piece was selected at the Apeldoorn Young Composers Meeting. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in