classical music

Lucid Dream (in memory of Michael Leunig) ‘Nothing can be loved at speed’ – Leunig Lucid Dream is the title of my latest composition, 7’52 of flowing orchestral polyphony with an important solo part for cor anglais or alto saxophone. (To hear it, scroll down.) A lucid dream is one in which you are aware that you are dreaming – in other words, you are conscious and unconscious (asleep) at the same time, a powerful reminder that there are (at the very least) two parts to the human mind. In most human cultures, through most of human history, dreams have been taken very seriously, seen as a source of wisdom, prophecy, connection with the gods, or (more recently) a source of insight into ourselves and [...]

‘My dear friend, all theory is grey – life's golden tree alone is green.’* – Goethe Not so long ago, we who were brought up in western cultures were taught to believe that nature was ruthlessly competitive, that ‘survival of the fittest’ operated at all levels of life, from species to individuals. These ‘grey’ theories (as Goethe would surely have called them) became the dominant paradigm in western thinking, supported and reinforced by our emphasis on individualism and interpersonal competitiveness, and by our veneration of science that abstracts itself from life and love and only deals with what is measurable and (allegedly) rational. Eventually, however, anthropologists started to realize that humanity’s ability to cooperate might have been more important to its survival than competitiveness, psychologists [...]

https://youtu.be/o-XOBAJksgQ This video is a brief introduction to my latest composition, Kin, a duo concerto for cor anglais and bassoon that also serves as a quasi-programmatic reflection on relationships within and around the family, including honorary family members. There are four movements: Kin I: from the heart (comes courage) Kin II: times of peace Kin III: conflict resolution Kin IV: celebrations and other events As reflections on relationships and the issues that arise within and around families, the titles of the movements speak for themselves, but a word about courage may not be out of place. Courage is in the heart, or from the heart, and has always been so – the modern English word comes from the Old French corage ‘heart, innermost feelings; temper’ and ultimately [...]

Making music, or making art in any other form, is to me not just self-expression but also an act of giving. What I give, or hope to give, is not something that comes uniquely from me – my style, my intellectual construction, my individual view, my personal emotions – but something that comes through me: beauty, meaning, a sense that there is something greater than me or any other individual human being. That ‘something greater’ might be Nature, God, Love, Jung’s ‘collective unconscious’, Buddha Nature, the Tao, or something even less definable and nameable – but whatever you call it, it’s where beauty and meaning originate, and it’s that that I hope to reflect in my music. Recently I discovered an article about Rabindranath Tagore [...]

My latest release is ‘Half-Heard’, a song that is (I think) about Tasmania. To decide for yourself whether that’s true or not, read on – but first watch and listen to the song: https://youtu.be/XDyFCpyhGFM   A song about Tasmania? Australian author Christopher (C. J.) Koch (1922 – 2013) is best known for novels such as The Year of Living Dangerously, but his first published work was in fact a small poem called ‘Half-Heard’. For a brief time in the mid 1990’s Chris and I were next-door neighbours in Launceston, Tasmania. During our discussions of music and writing he introduced me to his poetry, and when I expressed admiration for 'Half-Heard' he encouraged me to set it to music. Life intervened, however, and I had to [...]