• Inner World (1994) - Carl Vine for cello and pre-recorded CD
• Threnody (1992) - Peter Sculthorpe

 
• ConFusion (2000)* -  John Keane for multi-tracked cello and voice

 
• Requiem (1979) - Peter Sculthorpe

 
• Palinode (1992)* - Colin Matthews

 
• Verklärter Bungalow (2000)* - Ian Blake for multi-tracked cello and voice

 

Captain James Cook set out on the Endeavour in 1768 on a voyage of discovery and found Australia.  I was introduced to the music of Australia as recently as 1994, when I was invited to perform works by Peter Sculthorpe at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival of Contemporary Music.  I was captivated by the haunting simplicity of Peter's music, and indeed the serenity of the composer himself, who was present at the performance, and I decided then to embark on my own musical voyage of discovery from England to Australia.

My brother Ian Blake, who now lives in Canberra, is central to this collection of new music. An all-round musician, Ian was a founder member of the popular folk group Pyewackett, and now, in addition to performing, he composes, arranges, and produces records. Ian has been to parts of Australia that most Australians never knew existed. His music is derived from the Australian way of life and urban landscape.  His sources are rich and varied and I have always been beguiled by his wonderfully droll sense of humour. The scene is set for Verklärter Bungalow with the sounds of a Canberran summer night. Ian writes, "An average Australian house is transfigured by its Christmas illuminations. Sir Isaac Newton comments. (Opticks 1730)".

Carl Vine's inspiration for Inner World is the intimate relationship between musician and instrument.  He writes: "Every sound is carved from the string, hair and wood with loving care.  My aim is to focus on this amazing symbiosis and to create a sound world that tries to reflect some of the internal processes involved in a truly musical performance."  The live performer is surrounded by electronically transformed sounds played by the work's dedicatee,  Australian cellist David Pereira.  The result is a mix of collage and mosaic that evolves from the solo cellist's soliloquy into a fascinating journey through styles and moods to an exhilarating climax. 

Peter Sculthorpe's inspiration comes from two main sources, the Australian landscape and the voice of the aboriginal people. Peter told me an intriguing story about the aboriginal lament from Elcho Island that Threnody is based upon. In 1995, he went  there with the Darwin Symphony Orchestra. At several of their concerts, the orchestra played  his piece Kakadu which, like Threnody, draws upon this island lament. Curiously, the local aborigines did not recognise the melody. When he sang it, however, there was instant recognition. It appears that, to them, the chant exists only when it is sung. 

In Requiem, too, the cello 'sings'. The music reflects the words of the Latin requiem mass and Peter Sculthorpe describes how it alternates between "the coolness and objectivity of plainchant, and the warmth, even passion at times, of my own kind of music."

Back in England, John Keane writes music almost exclusively for film and television . In fact, his only other free-standing work is 1M6, written for my duo A Man, A Woman and a Double Bass in 1986. Like Verklärter Bungalow, ConFusion was written especially for this CD. The title ConFusion suggests two meanings - firstly the fusion (of voices, cello and percussion) of sounds I have made myself, and secondly the confusing alignment of the beat - the downbeat is tantalisingly elusive!

In Palinode, English composer Colin Matthews, whose scores are predominantly for large orchestra, creates a rich instrumental texture by double-stopping almost throughout.  And yet the rise and fall of the theme suggest patterns of speech, and the clearly defined phrases are punctuated by quite substantial rests, like the more deliberate delivery of poetry. A palinode in poetry is a recantation, meaning second thoughts.  The opening melody was intended as the first of a series of short studies, but Colin Matthews found himself writing a sequence of variations instead.