music composed and conducted by Sven Libaek music recording engineer Martin Benge

Beale Piano supplied by Paling's Sydney, Australia

Composer:

Sven Libaek is an Australian composer, record producer and musician who was born in in 1938, and trained as a pianist. A graduate of the Juilliard School New York, he came to Australia in 1960, as a member of The Windjammers (promoting a film) and when the band broke up, he returned to Australia.

Thereafter Libaek joined newly established CBS as musical director and A&R manager in 1963, and began composing music for feature films and documentaries. As well as Nickel Queen, his credits include The Set, To Ride a White Horse, Vincent Serventy's series Nature Walkabout, the drama series Boney (based on Arthur Upfield's character), Ron and Valerie Taylor's documentary series Inner Space, and The Settlement.

Libaek's music made a cinematic comeback when director selected five pieces, all originally part of his score for Inner Space, for use on his 2004 film The Life Aquatic.

Libaek has a wiki here, and he is well-represented on the internet, with a devoted band of followers. A short biography up to 2006 can be found at the Australian Music Centre here.

It was provided by the composer and reads as follows:

Sven Libaek was born in Norway in 1938, and trained early as both a musician and an actor. He first achieved international recognition with his role in the Louis deRochemont film Windjammer where he was able to combine his love for music and acting with his appearance as a soloist with and the Boston Pops. Libaek first came to Australia in 1960 as a member of the band, The Windjammers, which toured in both the USA and Australia to promote the film. Shortly after the group broke up, Libaek and his wife returned to Australia to live. Libaek has scored many films & TV series, including Nature Walkabout, Boney, Inner Space, Big Country, The World Around Us, Joe Wilson, and The Settlement, as well as dozens of documentaries and industrial films. He worked with as musical coordinator and orchestrator for 's film The Year of Living Dangerously and also hosted his own TV show on ABC called All about Music. The 2004 Wes Anderson film, Life Aquatic, featured five of Libaek's compositions as part of its score. Libaek lived and worked in Los Angeles from 1977 to 1994 where he orchestrated more than 300 popular songs for US radio stations and artists including Lionel Ritchie and , and was engaged by Hanna- Barbera in Hollywood to score the music to ten two-hour animated TV movie specials. During his career, Libaek has had more than 30 record albums released. He has composed serious concert works for instruments including the piano, classical guitar, flute and clarinet. For the Australian Centenary of Federation he was commissioned by the Sutherland Shire Council to compose a special work for Symphony Orchestra, Choir and Brass Band, with words by his wife Lolita Rivera. Called The First Shire, it was performed at Cronulla Beach in front of 10,000 people in January 2001. Libaek is principal conductor of The Sutherland Shire Symphony Orchestra and President of the Music Arrangers Guild of Australia. He has worked as an adjudicator and piano teacher, and early in his musical career, was Musical Director and A&R Manager for CBS Records as well as General Manager for April Music Publishing Company for four years. He is currently Composer-in- Residence at Port Hacking High School and frequently lectures at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in Sydney. Libaek is currently completing the score to a Sydney Maritime Museum documentary about the restoration of the magnificent sailing ship the James Craig, and putting the final touches on his first Piano Concerto.

(Below: a young Sven Libaek, and Libaek in 2011) The theme for the film turned up as track B2 on a compilation of Australian film music, I Love Australian Movies, featuring Sven Libaek and his orchestra:

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Alto Saxophone – Errol Buddle Arranged By – Sven Libaek Clarinet – David Rutledge Concertmaster – John Lyle Drums – Doug Gallagher Engineer – Martin Benge French Horn – Robert Johnson Guitar – Paul Baker Harp – Maria Łazar Keyboards – Mark Isaacs Oboe – Tom Sparks Producer – Sven Libaek Trombone – Herb Cannon Trumpet – Billy Burton Vibraphone – Noel Gilmour Recorded in Australia at EMI Studio 301 The Australian Film Commission logo appears on the album