Koehne: Time is a River
Mills Richard Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Koehne: Time is a River
Mills Richard Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
In the latest release in the Australian Composer Series, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra celebrates the lyrical and beguiling music of Graeme Koehne.
The disc opens with the joyous fanfare Forty Reasons to Be Cheerful, commissioned for the 40th anniversary of the Adelaide Festival Centre and inspired by the open-hearted optimism of Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’. The short elegy The Persistence of Memory is a haunting and poignant tribute to Guy Henderson, former principal oboist of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, a work inspired by what Koehne describes as a “language of emotions”. “Music is part of how we communicate: it’s what humans do - not an abstract series of sounds. [This piece] reflects an attempt to return to the fundamental elements of musical ‘language’.” Divertissement: Trois Pièces Bourgeoises expresses Koehne’s desire “to give simple pleasure to my fellow-citizens.”
Between Two Worlds is a reflective work inspired by David Malouf’s novel Fly Away Peter, which traces the journey from innocence to bitter experience of a young man enlisting in the First World War; the six-movement suite is taken from the full-length ballet score commissioned from Koehne by The Australian Ballet. The album closes with Time is a River: “The string quartet is the ‘river’, pursuing its relentless course, by turns gentle, swirling, turbulent and free-flowing. The clarinet represents some form of persona - a soul, if you like - that is carried along by the flow of the strings, pursuing its own diverse range of characters: melancholic, reflective, playful, ecstatic, capricious, finally reaching a state of acquiescence or acceptance.”
Review
Kate Rockstrom
I was in a terribly bad mood when I sat down to listen to this recording. Not the best way to experience new repertoire, but as the first track, ‘Forty Reasons to Be Cheerful’, evolved, it was like the sun came out and my bad mood fell away. Although this ‘Festive Fanfare’ is only six-and-a-half minutes long, the rest of the recording was equally as fulfilling and, the only way I can truly describe it, beautiful. This is some stunningly gorgeous music.
After the bright opening we move into the gentle ‘Persistence of Memory’ with soloist David Nuttall, principal oboe of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, sharing the spotlight with Jun Yi Ma and Sue-Ellen Paulsen. The trio deliver a soulful beginning to the work and hearing their performance slowly dissolve into a full orchestral work is like watching a cake bake: you can see it taking shape and know it’s going to be delicious. ‘Divertissement: Trios Pieces Bourgeoises’ surprised me with the colours it seems to send wheeling around the orchestra, however it’s not really until ‘Between Two Worlds’ expands over six movements that we get some faster melodic ideas thrown into the mix. Finishing with the title piece, ‘Time is a River’, Paul Dean compels as a soloist who works with the orchestra as a team rather than one who hogs the spotlight. Together they make a new and beautiful musical experience.
Each work has a different story behind its composition and a couple have been rearranged from earlier Koehne works into new forms. The Divertissement was originally a string quartet and ‘Between Two Worlds’ is a suite comprising music from Koehne’s ballet ‘Fly Away Peter’. Each work’s story is interesting and distinct, but where they don’t differ is in Koehne’s indelible style shaping every note. The soloists and the musicians of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra are terrific, and with Richard Mills at the helm, this music sings.
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