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The Australian violist and composer Brett Dean studied in Brisbane with Elizabeth
Morgan and John Curro. In 1982 he graduated with honours from the Queensland Conservatorium
of Music and went on to play four seasons as principal viola for the Queensland
and Australian Youth Orchestras. After the 1983 Chinese premiere of William Walton's
"Viola Concerto" in Beijing, he continued his studies in Germany thanks to the
financial assistance of the Australian Council. In 1985 Dean became a permanent
member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
In Europe he has appeared at major festivals such as Aldeburgh, Bath, Berlin,
Frankfurt, Salzburg, and Vienna's "Wien Modern" series, and has worked with Marcus
Stenz, Oliver Knusen, Heinz and Ursula Holliger and Sir Simon Rattle. In 1985
Dean received special critical acclaim for his viola solo in Hindemith's "Viola
d'Amore Concerto "with the Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado. He has recently
recorded this work for" CPO" (Germany) with Werner Andreas Albert and the Frankfurt
Radio Symphony Orchestra. Further commercial recordings include the string quartets
of Brahms and Bruckner with the Brandis Quartet on "Nimbus "Records (England),
a trio recital on "ABC Classics "(Sydney) and the premiere recording of Benjamin
Frankel's "Viola Concerto " (CPO). His great interest in contemporary music has
resulted in well over 50 premieres of new solo and chamber pieces by leading composers
of our time, including Hans Werner Henze, György Kurtag, Colin Matthews,
Wolfgang Rihm and Isang Yun.
Dean's career as a composer began in 1988 with radio projects and improvised
film music for the Australian Broadcasting Company and various independent film-makers.
At present his works are attracting considerable attention in Europe and Australia,
with performances at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Leipzig Gewandhaus and the
Berlin Philharmonie. In addition, a broad selection of his music has been recorded
on compact disc in Australia, Sweden (Bis) and for the Belgian label "Sub Rosa
" as part of the composer/performer duo "Frame-Cut -Frame." Dean's works have
also been featured by the English Music Quarterly, "Unknown Public". He has written
pieces commissioned by the Festival of Sydney, the English pianist Imogen Cooper,
the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the 12
Cellos of the Berlin Philharmonic. Brett Dean's latest work, "Carlo", is scored
for strings, sampler and tape. After its premiere at the Huntington Festival in
December 1997, it was described in the Sydney Morning Herald as "perhaps the most
forcefully striking achievement in Australian writing for orchestral strings"
in over 30 years.
Dean's current and future projects include a 3-act ballet for choreographer
Jiř Kylian and the Nederlands Dans Theater, an a capella vocal piece for
the Swedish Radio Choir and a new work for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The
piece for ballet will be released on Channel
Classics (the Netherlands) in May 1998. His first symphonic work, "Ariel's
Music", for clarinet and orchestra, is scheduled for release on "ABC Classics"
in 1998.
Madrigals by Gesualdo, chanting Tibetan monks, Inuit vocal games and Pieter
Wispelwey's cello: these are the main elements of this musical journey. I was
asked to join the project relatively late in the day, at a time when Jiř
Kylian's concept of the sounds he wanted was already well advanced and delightfully
idiosyncratic. He had collected a veritable archive of aural phenomena which had
fascinated him for years. So we added some African drums, contemporary choral
techniques and various examples of Australian bird song...But what kind of a journey
were we embarking upon? The initial guidelines from the choreographer suggested
a "life cycle" scenario, divided accordingly into three acts. That was the starting
point, and I just took it from there...
The piece starts with the sounds of "harmonic" singing, as found in the "Hoomi
"tradition of Mongolia, and Tibetan overtone chanting. These ethereal voices open
a window onto an evolving soundscape in which other elements discover their place.
Ceremonial bells and crotales, dreamy string flageolets, a guttural droning of
voice and cello, the squeaky pendulum of a playground swing, and a breathy Inuit
"katajjaq", or throat song-game. These elements are driven relentlessly forward
by basses and cellos to reach a dynamic peak. Out of the resultant "rubble" finally
emerges the lone elegant cello of Pieter Wispelwey. He announces single phrases
that we can only later piece together as fragments of "Sparge la" "morte" from
Carlo Gesualdo's fourth book of madrigals. The path leading to the madrigal itself
(ponticello strings, percussion) is shrouded in mystery, much like the scant details
of Gesualdo's own bizarre life. Carlo, the infamous, troubled Prince of Venosa,
who murdered his own wife and her lover in Naples in 1594, is a figure that plays
an integral part in the unfolding musical drama. His duplicity of lyricism and
threat will accompany us throughout the various stages of the piece.(...but rest
assured, he doesn't kill anybody in this show! ) "Sparge la " "morte "works its
precarious charm upon us, and the cellist replies with his very own "madrigal":
a "soliloquy" that soars to the instrument's highest register.
We slowly awake out of the calm of the cello solo. At first, life's birth and
initial growth seem more like some "Niebelungen "dawn. But the horns we hear are
no mistaken doorway into "Das" "Rheingold"! "These" horns herald a dance of hedonistic
earthiness. Naturally, the cellist has his own view of this dynamism and enters
setting an even faster course, pursued and then consoled by the consort of Gesualdo
singers. The dance proceeds through various pizzicato and tremolo variants, then
stops abruptly, leaving a carpet of high voices. When the rhythmic forces try
to reenter the scene, they are unable to regain their initial vigor. Everything
turns quiet. Then the cello, accompanied sporadically by a viola, joins in dialogue
with some Australian "pied butcher birds." Their "songs of nature" reawaken the
spirits of movement and vitality, and the music tumbles once again into action,
even agitation...The quickening step of African drums steers us towards a menacing
darkness as the cello's driving motor returns. A chase ensues. Finally, all energy
is spent and un uneasy calm reigns.
The first time I met with Jiř Kylian to discuss this production, he showed
me photos of Isushi Kitagawara's sensational set designs. The image of strands
of brilliant white light from stage to ceiling in the 3rd Act left a strong impression,
awakening ideas of the "afterlife-eternity-transfiguration" variety. Ever since
that first meeting, I knew we had to create a very particular sound for the opening
of this act, a crystalline brightness coming from many cellos, something both
shimmering and intense. The "celloscape "that evolves out of this multitude of
harmonics is enhanced by bells and an intriguing percussion instrument called
a waterphone. But after so much light, it's also nice to sit in the shade for
a while. Low, sombre cellos murmur briefly before the dark foreboding of Gesualdo
returns. The opening bars of his tortured madrigal "Moro" "lasso" transport us
unexpectedly back in time. The ensemble of deep cellos replies to each successive
vocal entrance with increasing intensity, pushing the sound towards the upper
stratosphere where the act began. The fuller exploration of Gesualdo's harmonies
that ensues (in the form of a collage based on the "Moro lasso" motive) brings
the music back to a floating stillness. Then, even the short rhythmic section
that interrupts this state of repose with its Inuit reminiscences and metallic
pulse, cannot substantially shake the music of its resolve to remain calm, composed
and spacious. It is this atmosphere which gives shape to the work's last moment
of focus and concentration: the poignant "Lamento" from Benjamin Britten's "1st
Cello Suite".
Brett Dean
List of credits for this production
Original music: Brett Dean
Additional Music:
David Hykes from "The Harmonic Choir"
Carlo Gesualdo di Venosa from "the 4th and 6th Books of Madrigals"
Frame-Cut-Frame (Simon Hunt, Brett Dean & Michael Askill)
"Dawn/Swings/ Looking for Astrid/ Ball of Fun/ Approaching Hegyeshalom"
Benjamin Britten "Lamento" from Cello Suite No.1
Thanks to:
Chiel Meijering excerpts from "La Belle Dame sans Merci" for solo cello
David Lumsdaine "Pied Butcher Birds of Spirey Creek" (Tall Poppies TP 091)
Performers:
Pieter Wispelwey (cello)
Brett Dean (viola, sampler)
Simon Hunt (sampler)
Michael Askill (percussion)
Stefan de Leval Jezierski (french horn)
Members of the Nederlands Kamerkoor & RIAS Kammerchor (Berlin), conducted by Brett
Dean.
Sound Production:
Dick Heuff (sound editor, recording engineer)
Peter Gross (sound pre-production, Berlin)
Simon Hunt (sound pre-production, Sydney)
Brett Dean (additional sound editing)
Special Thanks to:
Jiř Kylian, Dick Heuff, Pieter Wispelwey, Raymond Langewen, Catherine Ferrer,
Heather Betts, Arthur Cune, Het Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag.
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