Broadstock Booklet
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476 8041 BRENTON BROADSTOCK Executive Producers Cover photograph Shoreline of Great Robert Patterson, Lyle Chan Oyster Bay, near Swansea, Tasmania Recording Producer Brooke Green © APL/Paul A. Souders Recording Engineer Andrew Dixon For Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Editing Brooke Green, Andrew Dixon, Managing Director Nicholas Heyward Veronika Vincze timeless Recordings Manager Virginia Read Artistic Administrator Anthony Peluso Editorial and Production Manager www.tso.com.au Natalie Shea Cover and Booklet Design Imagecorp Pty Ltd Recorded 13-14 October 2003 and 3 June 2004 in the Federation Concert Hall, Hobart and 15-16 October 2003 in the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Studio All works on this disc published by G. Schirmer (Australia). ൿ 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Ꭿ 2005 Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Distributed in Australia by Universal Music Group, under exclusive licence. Made in Australia. All rights of the owner of copyright reserved. Any copying, renting, lending, diffusion, public performance or broadcast of this record without the authority of the copyright owner is prohibited. TASMANIAN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Musical “Rooms of Wonder”: Transition and barracks, where his parents were both Transcendence in Works of Brenton Broadstock Officers, his early life was, he describes, “institutionalised” and his surrounds ranged Composer Brenton Broadstock has a number of from Boys’ Homes to Retirement Villages to “firsts” to his credit. He is the first composer at Brenton Broadstock b. 1952 Youth Training Centres. It was here that the University of Melbourne to have been Broadstock received his first musical promoted to the position of Professor (he is experiences, playing trombone in the Army’s 1 Festive Overture 11’25 Head of Composition in the University’s Faculty brass bands (but not taking the more traditional of Music, where he has taught since 1982). He AMEB examinations in art music repertoire). 2 Timeless 10’50 was the inaugural Composer-in-Residence with Trombone-playing was joined by a stint as bass 3 The Mountain 10’45 the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 1988-89, guitarist in a rock/pop band, Major Eclipse, in when he wrote his Symphony No. 1 Toward the Broadstock’s late teens while reading for his first 4 Federation Square: Rooms of Wonder 11’19 Shining Light. He was the first Australian degree (in politics and history at Monash composer to be signed up by the prestigious University, 1972-74). It was also during his 5 Symphony No. 4 Born from Good Angel’s Tears 14’46 Schirmer publishing house. Passionate about upbringing with the Salvos, Broadstock believes, furthering the dissemination of art music and that his social conscience was formed as he Total Playing Time 59’05 the cause of his composer colleagues in this witnessed the situation of people living at the country, he compiled the reference book Sound margins of our social structures, placed there by Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Ideas: Australian Composers Born Since 1950 circumstances beyond their own making. Ola Rudner conductor (published in 1995 by the Australian Music Centre, Sydney); he received a large grant from This sociological consciousness has been Victoria’s Department of Education, Employment reflected in the artistic impulse of many other and Training to initiate an Australian Music composers since the turn of the last century, curriculum at the Music Faculty and he also co- such as Hans Werner Henze, Hans Eisler, Luigi instigated the University’s Centre for Studies in Nono, Cornelius Cardew, John Corigliano, Australian Music. Diamanda Galás, Meredith Monk and John Adams, and, more locally, Neil Currie, Martin But the road to the position of one of this Wesley-Smith, Anne Boyd, Andrée Greenwell country’s most well-established, respected and and Colin Bright, to name only a few. For prominent later-mid-generation composers has Broadstock, it was developed still further when a not been the usual trajectory of intense, formal, very short-lived tenure with the Education classical instrumental tuition during childhood Department gave way to working as one of the leading to an undergraduate degree in music country’s first music therapists at Lakeside composition. Brought up in Salvation Army Hospital, Ballarat in 1976-78. 2 3 During his therapist work, the realisation of Pressure from either “the academy” or critics, positive responses from audiences and which the composer won an Australasian where his future must lie hit Broadstock like a even one’s peers, from one side, vying perhaps reviewers alike, there were the odd charges Performing Rights Association award in 1984, is thunder-clap: he must pursue musical with the strong opinions of audiences on the levelled at the composer of “conservatism”, dedicated to Peter Sculthorpe. It was composed composition. He was accepted into other, have left countless composers – and “New Simplicity” or “New Romanticism” – one for the 1983 National Orchestral Composers’ postgraduate study with Donald Freund at indeed artists from all disciplines – since at least barb even went so far as to describe the work School and first performed by the ABC Sinfonia Memphis State University, Tennessee, during Beethoven, in an uncomfortable, even perilous, as an example of “New Naivety”. Such conducted by Wilfred Lehmann. The title is 1979-80, and then took up further studies in position. They can feel that if they stray from the modernist squeamishness has not, however, taken from a quote from Sibelius’ own diary: 1981 with Peter Sculthorpe in Sydney, before style or approach which cemented their deterred Broadstock from pursuing his own …I begin already dimly to see the mountain that the music teaching offer in 1982 brought him reputation, they sound their death-knell for future forays into neo-tonality – or using “tonal I shall certainly ascend….God opens His door back to his home town of Melbourne. performances and composer colleagues’ respect, centres”, as he prefers to call it – where there is for a moment and His orchestra plays the Fifth or for continued audience acceptance. And in this a sense of pitch centre without recourse to The works in this collection span 21 years and Symphony. (September 1915) past half-century, often the first two categories traditional functional harmony; rather, in represent early, middle and current periods of Broadstock’s approach, serialised modal and the latter have been mutually exclusive: one A bristly, busy opening gives way to a Brenton Broadstock’s mature composing life. structures are employed. The hallmarks of his needs only to think of the compositional portentous brass pronouncement which in turn Surface differences are perhaps quite strikingly mature style are present in all the works on the trajectory of composers such as Arvo Pärt, is replaced by a spacious passage full of eerie – apparent and seem to reflect a broad movement disc, despite the seeming dissimilarities; these Henryk Górecki or George Rochberg, for example, over this time from a harder-edged spiky stylistic fingerprints include a strong adherence indeed, “icy” – wonderment as the mountain or Australians Richard Meale, Ross Edwards and modernism to a more seductive postmodern to the golden mean principle, where the always comes into view for the observer. From there, even Peter Sculthorpe, and how their stylistic tonal palette. Yet over the two-plus decades, carefully wrought and inevitably intensely busyness alternates with more serene changes have been received on the part of Broadstock has not altered his essential powerful climax occurs around three-fifths of passages, and moments of metrical clarity and audiences compared with (some, not all) approach to compositional principles – the the way through; the use of pitch slides as a regularity are interspersed with ametrical ones – reviewers. Broadstock, however, is one of the overriding one of which might be best described fusing device; local, melodic embellishments; as though the earthbound were in conflict with few who has enjoyed accolades from both as “writing to please oneself”, a maxim that juxtapositions of dramatic textural contrasts; the extra-terrestrial. The climax (at the typical camps: as well as winning just about every Broadstock repeats again and again to his young transformation of the dorian mode, golden-section point of the work, three-fifths of composition award to date in this country and composition students. This might seem an mathematically and systematically, each cycle the way through) includes cascading percussion many international prizes, with a list of obvious – indeed, mandatory – stance for a flattened by a semitone before the original and piano: “God” opens His door and the commissions and cream-of-the-cream performers creator, and certainly by the time of artistic mode re-emerges; and (predictably!) viewer is overwhelmed by the revelation. This that seems to go on for pages, his music has had maturity, it is to be hoped that influences have prominence of brass in the orchestral works. ushers in a very sparse, slow-paced section very warm audience responses (resulting, for been taken on board, assessed, digested and featuring pitch-bends, leading to a siren-like instance, in 24 Hours magazine’s Listeners’ One Romantic composer to whose works transcended. Broadstock’s is assuredly a effect in the trumpets. The texture then Choice Award in 1998 for Bright Tracks). Broadstock is avowedly attracted is Finland’s distinctive, recognisable compositional voice. Yet Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) and his (in gradually