Sculthorpe Works For Strings Second Sonata Irkanda 1 4 Cellodreaming Lament Jilile

Chandos has released an Australian gem here, bringing together one of our most significant composers and the vibrant young ACO led by Tognetti. The works here span most of Sculthorpes career from Irkanda I for solo violin written in 1955 to Cello Dreaming, commissioned by the BBC in 1998, featuring the cellist Emma-Jane Murphy. Tognettis performance of Irkanda I is one of the many highlights on this disc, exquisitely portraying a 360 degree contour of the hills around Canberra in sound, bird song included. This theme of the Australian landscape is the unifying element here, which the ACO evokes stunningly in a work written for them, Second Sonata for Strings. The disc fittingly ends with Djilile, an aboriginal melody Sculthorpe has based many works on, concluding a thoroughly Australian musical experience. Matt Archer