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Martin Wesley-Smith's current BLOG |
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an incomplete, occasional and opinionated ramble through miscellaneous events, performances etc so far in 2013/2014 ...
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The Rob Blog: www.shoalhaven.net.au/~mwsmith/wesaga.html
The Sheila Blog: www.shoalhaven.net.au/~mwsmith/sheila.html
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Sun Oct 26 2014:
Last night I went to Sydney to attend a memorial ceremony and concert for Australian composer, and friend, Peter Sculthorpe, who died in August aged 85. I particularly enjoyed the performance, by the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Symphony Orchestra, of Peter's 1988 masterpiece Kakadu. And I enjoyed some - not all - of the speeches, particularly that by fellow composer Ross Edwards. Peter eschewed the European-influenced music favoured by most Australian composition teachers throughout his lifetime in favour of an original music that sought to reflect the Australian landscape and its ancient peoples. His influence was, and will no doubt continue to be, huge. * An article, titled Song Company performs two Canberra concerts, October 25-26, in The Sydney Morning Herald on Friday October 24, included this (about The Song Company's baritone Clive Birch's impending retirement):
I was there, doing sound, and I remember it vividly (such a response doesn't happen every day!). The main gain control of the audio mixer I was given was short and stiff such that the slightest adjustment risked being much larger than intended, giving a sudden drop or increase in level. When the piece started I realised that it was too loud, but I dared not try to drop the level in case it suddenly became too soft. I decided to leave it as it was. The result was an added rawness and urgency in the piece that made it even more compelling than it normally is. But when it finished I thought that I'd blown it, for there was no reaction from the capacity audience. Then, as Clive said, whoosh! One of the most moving experiences of my life, too. Clive is one of my favourite baritones. He has been a mainstay of The Song Company for a quarter of a century, providing superb tone and great character. I'm gonna miss him! * A health update: a recent course of chemotherapy was judged by my oncologist not to be working - on the contrary, it was depressing my white-blood-cell count, leaving me open to infection. The treatment was halted. After a CT scan, which showed that my bronchioalveolar carcinoma was neither improving nor getting worse, I was offered a choice: resume chemo but at a lower dose (so as to have minimal effect on my white-blood-cell count) or do nothing. Since I would rather do something than do nothing, I opted for the first option. * Tues Oct 7 2014:
The good-looking bloke at left is my son Jed Wesley-Smith, who came down from Sydney to do sound for the show (I've always done it myself, but these days I can't carry loudspeakers etc without needing frequent rests). Needless to say he did it brilliantly. Other family members were here too - click on Jed's photo to see 'em. From left: my daughter Alice, Jed's son Bassy, Jed, me, bro Rob, bro Pete and my daughter Olivia. They all contributed to the event, helping make it the best one yet (it was the twelfth one, held annually since 2003). Among the emailed comments received was this one from an audience member:
"... a sensational success. I laughed throughout the films and comic acts and felt acutely aware that I am in the lucky position to do so when reminded of the struggles of others when listening to Baghdad Baby and the Good Ship Lollipop with its sobering reference to the asylum seekers. It's this balance that you bring to the nights that make it special and I can't thank you enough for co-ordinating such talent (including your own!)."
* Fri Sept 26 2014: Yesterday I had the second of three three-weeks-apart infusions of Pemetrexed, a chemotherapy drug. No side FX that I've been able to identify as yet - probably won't get any, in fact, for I had none from my previous bout of chemo four years ago, and Pemetrexed is apparently a milder drug than that one was. The night before, a choir at the University of New South Wales, conducted by Sonia Martin, performed my piece Who Killed Cock Robin?. I desperately wanted to go but didn't feel up to the five-hour round trip. Sonia posted the following on facebook:
* Mon Sept 22 2014: Today we read that ex-prime minister John Howard was "embarrassed" when he discovered that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction when he sent Australia, as a member of the Coalition of the Willing, to war in 2003. He said that he had genuinely believed that those weapons existed and that therefore the invasion of Iraq was not only justified but necessary. No mention of the Downing St memo that showed that the USA was cooking the books. No mention of Australian intelligence analyst Andrew Wilkie's revelations, before the invasion, that it was all BS. No, Howard "believed", on no basis whatsoever, the propaganda coming from Bush, Blair, Rice, Rumsfeld etc and therefore took Australia to war at enormous cost of human lives, resources, and untold subsequent blowback. It is hard to imagine that the invasion and occupation of Iraq could have been more of a disaster, yet Howard - and fellow cabinet members like Foreign Minister Lord Downer of Baghdad and current Prime Minister Tony Abbott - have so far escaped any charges. Apparently, embarrassment is punishment enough. If you rob a bank, killing a teller in the process, you might get twenty years in jail. Rob a whole country of far more, killing hundreds of thousands in the process, and you're rewarded with lecture tours netting millions of dollars. Go figure. * I've cobbled together a website for our Not the Kangaroo Valley Buster Keaton Silent Movie Show coming up on October 4 in Kangaroo Valley Hall. See here. My dream is that people will download this to their smartphones and read it during the show instead of relying on a printed version. But it won't happen. Kangaroo Valley being Kangaroo Valley, I will be lucky to get more than eleven hits ... * Sat Sept 13 2014: As America prepares to go to war in Iraq again, with Australia's Abbott government almost wetting itself with excitement at the prospect of joining in (again), it's instructive to ponder on how successful the 2003 invasion of Iraq was. Does anyone seriously suggest that conditions in the Middle East have generally improved? If so, was it worth it in terms of lives lost and money spent? Is there any justification for not taking Bush, Blair and Howard to the ICC for their blatant falsehoods that led to such a monumental mess and tragedy? Will the imminent attack on ISIS achieve anything positive for anyone (apart from American arms manufacturers)? * Fri Sept 12 2014:
The show stars soprano Karen Cummings, who will sing Ballad of Marie Sanders (Brecht/Eisler), Le Grand Lustucru (Deval/Weill), J'attends un Navire (Deval/Weill) and the dark lullaby Baghdad Baby Boy (Wesley-Smith/Wesley-Smith).
This last song was composed in 2007 for soprano Yvonne Kenny to sing at the Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival. Apart from one other local performance, by Nicole Thomson, it has never been performed again - yet it's a good piece, or so I claim, and it is even more relevant today than ever. For a free download (pdf), click here. That's in Db. If you would like it up a tone, in Eb, click here. There's an Eb version which adds a cello part; access that here. If needed, here's a separate cello part.
* Fri Sept 12 2014:
Last year Max, who until recently was Master of the Queen's Music, survived leukaemia. Having been given just six weeks to live, he finished his Tenth Symphony while being treated in hospital. "He said he had been 'overwhelmed and buoyed' by the support of friends and well-wishers, especially on Orkney. (His) cancer battle (came) only months after the bitter collapse of his long-term relationship with his former partner ..."
Another 80th birthday this week: that of Australian composer Larry Sitsky. Happy birthday both!
* Fri Sept 5 2014: Yesterday I had the first course of my current round of chemotherapy to treat a little lung problem I have. The drug is Pemetrexed, which is dripped into a vein for thirty minutes once every three weeks. There may be some side FX, but as this drug is supposedly milder than what I was given four years ago, from which I felt no ill-effects at all, I don't expect any this time. No worries. * I've collected a few more photos from last weekend's trip to Timor-Leste. The recipients of this round of awards of the Ordem de Timor-Leste, or their representative, are gathered together here. A post-dinner shot at Tibar Beach Retreat (recommended!) can be seen here. Left to right: David Odling-Smee, Lurdes Pires (sister of Francisco, who was the subject of our "opera" Quito), Peter Wesley-Smith , Susan Connelly, local composer Simão Barreto, me, Dr Dan Murphy, John Dalton and Rob Wesley-Smith. There are shots of my two bros and me here and here. Here we are with Timorese friends. More later. * I put up this facebook post last Wednesday:
It has had a gratifying response so far, including:
and Having been attacked, often quite viciously, over the years for mixing music and politics, comments such as these are particularly pleasing. Thanks, all. And thanks to all performers who have played my "political" pieces (I believe that all music is political in some way to some extent), especially The Song Company, Charisma and Ros Dunlop. Others welcome! * Thurs Sept 4 2014:
Click on the photo for a larger view.
Other awardees included Andy Alcock, Robert Dom, the late Roger East, the late Denis Freney, the late Ken Fry, Helen Hill, the Mary MacKillop Institute (represented by Josephite sisters Josephine Mitchell and Susan Connelly), the late Brian Manning, Gil Scrine, and the late Greg Shackleton. Future ceremonies will acknowledge other activists from Australia and other parts of the world.
The road forward for Timor-Leste is proving to have many pot-holes (like most of its roads), but progress is being made in many areas. This tiny nation successfully resisted the might of the Indonesian war machine as well as the indifference of most governments around the world (including various Australian governments since Whitlam's in 1975). It is still battling Australia over the oil fields in the so-called "Timor Gap", and it continues to need our support.
* Tues August 26 2014: From Radio New Zealand International, 8.26am today:
Robert Dandois and Valentine Bourrat were arrested two weeks ago for allegedly violating their tourist visas by reporting for a French-German television station, Arte.
But Anthony Craig says the journalists were just doing their job, and the arrests are an example of the Indonesian military running West Papua like a prison camp.
"If you're going to hide something, then you stop people looking into things. And to have the French journalists locked up because they actually want to find out what's going on in Papua, given the atrocity reports that keep coming out of there, then there's something seriously wrong."
Anthony Craig says a Royal Commission into Australia's foreign aid policy and its military support to Indonesia is urgently needed.
* I signed a contract today for the publication by Wirripang of Peter's and my song She Wore a Black Ribbon, from our Centenary-of-Federation commission Black Ribbon. * I'm off to Timor-Leste for a few days on Thursday. More info about this later. When I get back next week, I start a new course of chemotherapy. * Mon August 18 2014: From today's Sydney Morning Herald:
Don Banks
Peter Sculthorpe
by Peter McCallum
Australia Ensemble
Martin Wesley-Smith's db (1991), was originally written to honour composer Don Banks (died 1980) and is a celebration of that composer's talent, high craftsmanship and eclectic musicality.
Wesley-Smith's discursive, genial and sometimes hyperactively virtuosic tribute moves from the surging spirit of jazz to the cogency of so-called "serialism", one of the 20th century's most severe principles of musical organisation, uniting it all with a reflective motto on the musical notes derived from Banks' initials.
The piece not only captures Banks' engaging musical intellect, but endures in its own right for its craft and inventive rhythmic energy and originality. The two movements, Steps and Pat-a-cake 2, form a well-balanced whole, though Wesley-Smith's intention to add another movement paying tribute to the interest he shared with Banks in electronic music conjures up additional intriguing possibilities.
Raffaele Marcellino's Suite from Mrs Macquarie's Cello takes its inspiration from the actual cello thought to be played by Mrs Macquarie during her husband's governorship of NSW. The four movements of the suite set a studious, fluent and symbolically isolated solo cello part (Julian Smiles) against texts performed by the Song Company highlighting thoughts and feelings from the margins of colonial life. The last movement, Mrs Macquarie Dances, is a ballad-like setting of a poem by Robert Burns with dreamy harmonic shifts against sustained chords.
The Song Company then sang a rarity, Janacek's Rikadla (Children's Rhymes) in a reduction by Erwin Stein for six voices piano and viola. Sung against projected images of drawings, the songs were terse and rhythmically original, conveying with the incongruous, humorous images and mood of children's singing games, and given added starkness by the complete lack of ornamental embellishment or sentimental indulgence.
Before Dvorak's Piano Quintet, the ensemble paused for two short tributes (A Little Song of Love for ensemble and a transcription of a 1947 song for flute and piano) to the passing of composer Peter Sculthorpe, whose music they had played and recorded for most of their individual and collective lives. The first movement of the Piano Quintet, which followed, had relaxed expressive ease and in the second movement, Dumka, the genial repetitions led player and listener along charming and surprising pathways.
* Sun August 17 2014: Last night I attended an Australia Ensemble subscription concert in Clancy Auditorium at the University of New South Wales. The concert began with a brilliant performance of my chamber work db and continued with an attractive Suite from Mrs Macquarie's Cello (2010) by Sydney composer Raffaele Marcellino. In his program notes, Roger Covell writes:
The speed of musical thought encountered in Martin Wesley-Smith's Snark-Hunting is again to the fore in db. While the actual sound of the music is often elegantly or slyly playful, its realization presupposes playing skills of a very high order on the part of each of the four instrumentalists involved.
At first it seems as if the piano is to act as sturdy anchor for the flights of fancy initiated by flute and clarinet and echoed by the cello; but it is not long before the piano joins in the florid, quick-witted but essentially transparent interplay of the work. An earlier title for the first movement was Waltz, but this has been crossed out and replaced by the less specific Steps. One possible reason for this may be simply that there are quite extended passages that are not in waltz time (they are closer in accent, spirit and shape to a polka), though the general impression of an elaborate, ultra-spry and often fantastic waltz remains strong.
Similarly, Pat-a-Cake as a title for the second movement should not encourage the expectation that the music is naively childish. The composer's exploration of triadic shapes is anything but self-indulgent. The players have to match the composer's almost relentless liveliness. His ability to maintain such resourceful momentum is a rare gift in contemporary music.
The performers last night were Geoffrey Collins (flutes), David Griffiths (clarinet), Ian Munro (piano) and Julian Smiles (cello). The Ensemble paid tribute to the late Peter Sculthorpe by performing a couple of his shorter pieces. Sculthorpe's music, and the man himself, were greatly loved. * Wed August 13 2014: A recent (August 11) editorial by Crikey:
All of this is the product of the vast historical tragedy of the Iraq War. It is a war that has so far cost nearly US$2 trillion and, according to American estimates, will eventually cost up to US$4 trillion by the time the last veteran of the conflict dies and the ongoing medical bill associated with treating veterans is finalised. That cost does not include the over 5000 allied lives lost in Iraq, nor the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives.
The only demonstrable result of the Iraq War is that the West was made less safe. That is the conclusion of British and American intelligence agencies and the Australian Federal Police: that the attack on Iraq made Western countries less safe from terrorism. Now governments are insisting once again that we are threatened by terrorism from Iraq, and that this threat justifies further draconian changes to our anti-terror laws.
The price we are paying for the folly of men like George W. Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard is now greater than ever.
Greg Martin contributed this comment to facebook:
Spot on. It continues to amaze me that Bush, Blair and Howard are not in the Hague ... * Last Sunday night I attended the 40th birthday party of the Sydney-based percussion group Synergy. Here are (left to right) ex-member Ian Cleworth, composer Carl Vine, me, and ex-members Rebecca Lagos and Colin Piper:
Amongst the performances was a tribute to Synergy's patron, the late Peter Sculthorpe, played by the group with William Barton, didgeridoo. Synergy has been - continues to be - a magnificent Australian musical institution. We are all in their debt. * Tues August 12 2014: Like many Australians, I'm saddened by the recent death of composer Peter Sculthorpe. He was an inspiration to me in many ways, particularly the way he developed his own musical style at a time when there was great pressure on composers to write music that sounded like it had been composed in Cologne in 1956. See tributes to him here (Andrew Ford) and here (Stuart Greenbaum). * Last Saturday night I witnessed Jon Rose's magnificent multimedia piece Ghan Tracks, presented by Ensemble Off-Spring. It was brilliant: beautifully put together and paced, superb presentation, always intriguing, imaginative mix of elements ... I loved it. It's a perfect festival piece, particularly for the Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin festivals (I hope at least one of them will take it on). It's a substantial piece that connects with ordinary people in ordinary situations. Even the Carriageworks audience loved it, with a very positive vibe all around where I was sitting. So good to get some of our history up there in sound and image but in a way that's real, that asks questions, that's entertaining in the best way ... * Fri August 8 2014: The carnage in Gaza continues to shock, even when one thinks that it can't possibly get any worse. One might think that performers would be interested to include in their programs pieces that are about contemporary issues such as this. If so, they haven't found their way to Peter's and my song Eyeless in Gaza, scored for soprano, piano & cello. Although written in 2009 about a previous Israel vs. Hamas battle, it applies just as much - even more so - to today. * Am working on material for an event on October 4 in Kangaroo Valley. See flyer here. * Thurs July 31 2014: I heard today that I have not been selected for the forthcoming drug trial (see entry for Mon July 14) - apparently my tumour is not expressing the protein PD-L1. I'm to be advised shortly of an alternative treatment currently being designed for me. * My current favourite pundit is American Chris Hedges. Reading his book The World As It Is - Dispatches on the Myth of Human Progress (Nation Books), I came across the following passage (pp259-260):
Academics - in some fields, anyway - are rightly concerned with such things as form, style, structure, and various analytical tools. But it's easy to become so concerned with these things that broader considerations, such as Hedges' "passionate call for our common humanity", which are much harder to talk about, slip by. I saw that all the time in my academic career, such as it was. Judges of student compositions, for example, and music critics, would make assessments based on "formal coherence", say, or lack of it. So obsessed were they with details they could recognize, draw red rings around, and talk about, that the overall impact of a piece didn't even register. The system has no way of judging "passionate call(s) for our common humanity". * After the biopsy I visited soprano Karen Cummings in Coledale, near Wollongong. Karen is going to sing a bracket of songs on our latest Not the Kangaroo Valley Buster Keaton Silent Movie Show, coming up on Sat October 4 in Kangaroo Valley Hall. We looked at several songs by Brecht/Weill and Brecht/Eisler as well as Peter's and my Baghdad Baby Boy (commissioned in 2007 by the Kangaroo Valley Arts Festival and sung by soprano Yvonne Kenny accompanied by pianist Andrea Katz). See here for a free download (pdf). Want it with cello? See here. * Someone recently asked me to write about the musical and audio-visual works I've composed to do with Timor-Leste. See what I wrote here. I was reminded that in times gone by, one could expect a newspaper review of performances - especially first performances - of one's work. No more. These days there might be on-line reviews, but a review in print is rare. Here are some excerpts from reviews written thirty years ago of my audio-visual piece Kdadalak (for the Children of Timor): "The effect is both beautiful and wrenchingly sad. Whatever one chooses to call this work - audio-visual art? - it is a complete success." (Tim Morton: The Virginian Pilot, Tues Nov 13 1979) "An effective collage of image and sound, (Kdadalak) remains a piece of powerful political art." (David Vance: The Sydney Morning Herald, May 25 1982) "Kdadalak was one of the most remarkable fusions of sound and image that I've witnessed ..." (Nick Waterlow: Nation Review, 1977) "In Kdadalak electronic music whispers and thunders through the auditorium as pictures, taken by Tweedie in East Timor shortly before the Indonesian invasion in 1975, flash across a screen above the stage. Gradually the faces fragment and dissolve into increasingly abstract color patterns ..." (David Lewis, Asahi Evening News, Tokyo, 1978) "It is an impressionistic opus that exploits the complexities of projection of transparencies and taped music ... Kdadalak vivifies the ugliness of war." (Grover Oberle, The Ledger Star, Norfolk, Virginia, Nov 13 1979) * Sun July 06 2014: The imminent Indonesian presidential election, between Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Prabowo Subianto, is of more than usual importance. Here's what the Jakarta Post had to say in its editorial yesterday:
Joko "Jokowi" Widodo
Prabowo Subianto
We were not silent during reformasi. Neither have we been shy when power is abused or civil rights trespassed.
Good men and women cannot stay idle and do nothing. Speak out when persecution occurs, stand firm in rejecting the tide of sinister forces.
At certain junctures in a nation's life, its people are called upon to make stark choices. No longer is it a mere ballot cast for one candidate over another, but rather a moral choice on the fate of the nation.
Russia faced such a choice in 1996, during a runoff between independent incumbent Boris Yeltsin against Gennady Zyuganov representing the old-guard Communist Party. It was a moral choice for hope versus remnants of the past. They chose hope.
In five days this nation too will make a moral choice. In an election like no other Ñ divisive in its campaigning, precarious in its consequences Ñ Indonesians will be required to determine the future of our body politic with a single piercing of a ballot paper.
The Jakarta Post in its 31-year history has never endorsed a single candidate or party during an election. Even though our standpoint is often clear, the Post has always stood above the political fray.
But in an election like no other, we are morally bound to not stand by and do nothing. We do not expect our endorsement to sway votes. But we cannot idly sit on the fence when the alternative is too ominous to consider.
Each candidate in the presidential election has qualities in his declared platform. They have been dissected at length the past three weeks. And voters will sway one way or another based on it. Yet there is also a sizable part of society who are undecided in their preference.
In such a case, perhaps one can consider who not to vote for as their reasoning for that moral choice.
Our deliberations are dictated on the values by which the Post has always stood firmly for: pluralism, human rights, civil society and reformasi.
We are encouraged that one candidate has displayed a factual record of rejecting faith-based politics. At the same time we are horrified that the other affiliates himself with hard-line Islamic groups who would tear the secular nature of the country apart. Religious thugs who forward an intolerant agenda, running a campaign highlighting polarizing issues for short-term gain.
We are further perplexed at the nation's fleeting memory of past human rights crimes. A man who has admitted to abducting rights activists Ñ be it carrying out orders or of his own volition Ñ has no place at the helm of the world's third-largest democracy.
Our democracy will not consolidate if people's mind-set remains wedged in a security approach in which militarism is an ideal. A sense that one candidate tends to regard civilian supremacy as subordinate to military efficacy.
This nation should be proud of its military, but only if those in uniform acknowledge themselves as servants of the democratic, civilian governance.
As one candidate offers a break from the past, the other romanticizes the Soeharto era.
One is determined to reject the collusion of power and business, while the other is embedded in a New Order-style of transactional politics that betrays the spirit of reformasi.
Rarely in an election has the choice been so definitive. Never before has a candidate ticked all the boxes on our negative checklist. And for that we cannot do nothing.
Therefore the Post feels obliged to openly declare its endorsement of the candidacy of Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and Jusuf Kalla as president and vice president in the July 9 election. It is an endorsement we do not take lightly.
But it is an endorsement we believe to be morally right.
Sad news: a few days ago our Mother Chook, Zorro, departed her mortal coil and is now happily pecking away in Heaven's Eternal Chook House. She was the archetypal chook, the survivor, one of our first three Bearers of Golden Goodness. Unlike the others, she died of old age - how many chooks can say that?? Well, OK, none, 'cos they'd be dead. And, anyway, they can't speak, or so people believe. But Zorro spoke to me, eloquently, not afraid to cluck disapprovingly when things were not to her taste, yet she would show gratitude, a smile on her lips, for all the good things I provided. Despite being the most senior chook in the chook yard, she was rooster Dave's favourite, which must be encouraging for old chooks everywhere. She leaves lots of happy memories as well as several daughters and granddaughters. RIP, Zorro, my fine feathered friend; we'll be lucky to see your like again.
My daughter Alice wrote: "Sorry to hear about Zorro...what a trooper she was! One of the great chickens... strong, motherly, caring, led by example...she will definitely be missed."
* At 1pm today, ABC-FM broadcast a Sunday Live program featuring pianist Arnan Wiesel. The blurb said: "Pianist Arnan Wiesel performs one of the masterpieces of piano literature, Bartok's Piano Sonata. We'll also hear Musica Ricercata, a piece in which Ligeti pays homage to Bartok and sometimes develops only one or two notes with his focus on a series of fascinatingly changeable rhythms. Martin Wesley-Smith's witty waltzes have the last laugh without being in the least Hungarian." * Mon June 23 2014: A letter, dated today, from a friend of mine, activist Vacy Vlazna, to Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop:
Regarding the matter of the cancellation of passports of Australians fighting in Syria and Iraq, I look forward to you also revoking the passports of all Australians serving, going to join up, or who have served, with the Israeli OCCUPATION Forces (IOF) to commit 'acts of barbarity' against Palestinian civilians suffering under Israeli OCCUPATION.
The government should 'keep them out' as they are involved in war crimes 'defined by savagery and brutality'
*when protecting the ILLEGAL settlements, in OCCUPIED Palestine,
*
when manning checkpoints in OCCUPIED Palestine,
*
when smashing into Palestinian homes at night and ripping frightened children from their families then criminally ransacking and looting these homes in OCCUPIED East Jerusalem and OCCUPIED West Bank of OCCUPIED Palestine,
*
when extrajudicially killing unarmed youth such as the 3 young men (including a child) in the past two days in the OCCUPIED West Bank of Palestine,
*
when participating in ILLEGAL collective punishment by kidnapping Palestinians, such as the 400 innocent persons over the past 10 days, to incarcerate them ILLEGALLY in Israeli prisons under administrative detention and expose them to the renewal of banned torture methods ordered by Netanyahu.
The Australian government should take this matter very seriously by investigating Australians who are serving or who have served in the IOF and returned to Australia.
I also ask when will the Australian government publicly condemn Israel's present rampage of collective punishment against the Palestinian population and demand that it immediately desists? Please email your answer forthwith.
Sincerely
Dr Vacy Vlazna
* While I'm about it (I thought I'd given up this blog), let me recommend a recent speech by Australian playwright Andrew Bovell. It was the keynote speech at the National Play Festival at Sydney's Carriageworks. As their blurb says, Harold Pinter at the Ivy covers the current state of Australian playwriting, theatre's place in broader political discussions and society, as well as some moments of triumph and humiliation from Bovell's career. Bovell most recently won acclaim for his adaptation of Kate Grenville's novel The Secret River, for which he won the Helpmann Award for Best New Australian Work and Best Play. He's also known for his play Speaking in Tongues, which was turned into the award-winning film Lantana. A lot of what he writes about theatre can be applied to the so-called "serious music in the classical tradition" scene in this country. For example:
could easily read:
And this (my changes in brackets):
Too much Australian new music, including much of mine, is bland, white, safe, conservative, irrelevant ...
I suspect that AO probably had no real alternative after protests, and threats to disrupt Ms Iveri's performances, by opera-lovers. Initially AO said nothing, no doubt hoping that the controversy would fade away, but eventually it had to act. According to ABC News, "Jed Horner from the New South Wales Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby says it is a positive development but was a long time coming.
'I think the initial response left much to be desired and when they first came to light they should have actually been addressed,' he said.
'There should have been efforts by Opera Australia to look into the background of this person because there has been allegations made that this is not the first time, that there's actually been other comments as well. Those should have been addressed by Opera Australia when they arose.'"
Opera Australia should have stood up for LGBTQI rights much sooner than they did - they should have condemned her hate speech before they were pressured into it ...
Doug Pollard writes:
A few years ago, Condoleezza Rice visited the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where I used to work, and gave a speech. If I'd still been employed there I would have boycotted the event on the grounds that the Conservatorium should not be hosting a proven liar and probable war criminal. When I espoused such views I was jumped on by the usual suspects - including some of those most vocal in their condemnation of Ms Iveri - on the grounds that we should respect the office of US Secretary of State regardless of who is occupying the position. I have some sympathy for that view, but I would argue that a Secretary of State who supports and facilitates a full-scale invasion of another sovereign state, on the basis of blatant lies, with horrendous consequences that continue to worsen even today, loses the right to have her office respected. If Ms Iveri deserves to be boycotted for writing a hateful letter, Ms Rice deserves at least the same for her role in a hateful invasion. * Sun June 22 2014: A rare entry, to advise of my latest health news: About five years ago I was diagnosed with bronchioalveolar carcinoma, a rare form of lung cancer. I had one third of my right lung removed, then had a course of chemotherapy at the end of which I was pronounced C-free. But the tumour returned. Since then I've been on a drug called Tarceva (Erlotinib), which has done a great job in stopping the tumour growing. It has a few side FX, of course, the most debilitating being severe breathlessness. Last Monday I had a scan. Then, on Thursday, I went to see my oncologist. He announced that he wants to take me off Tarceva (my condition is gradually, though slowly, deteriorating) and put me on a new experimental treatment that "wakes up" lymphocytes in the immune system and empowers them to kill cancer cells. Something like that (I don't fully understand it). I'll be having a PET scan in the next few days, then he'll take some of my lung tissue for a biopsy that will determine whether the treatment is likely to be successful in my case. If it is then I go onto a trial that my oncologist says he has a "gut feeling" will be successful. Whoopeeee. I feel pretty good except for the breathlessness problem - but as that's probably a side effect of the drug I'm currently on, perhaps that will improve when I change to the new one. I asked about alternative treatments, including asparagus, turmeric, cannabinoids, cannabis oil, lemon juice-and-baking-soda, and so on (I've received a lot of suggestions from friends): he was scathing about them all as a cure, although he thinks that dope can be quite effective in dealing with various side FX. But I already knew that. He regularly takes my case and others to a local Lung Group - a gathering of oncologists and respiratory physicians - that reviews cases like mine and whose members make recommendations re treatment. As far as I can tell, I'm in excellent hands. That's me updated: no worries! * Wed Jan 22 2014: Time for me to wrap this blog up. It has been a useful exercise for me, acting to some extent as a personal diary and serving as a platform for the occasional political rant. But I seem to have less and less time to maintain it and decreasing interest in doing so. I'll keep it alive so that I can add stuff if at some point in the future I find myself with something to say and the time and enthusiasm for its on-line expression ...
I've just heard of the death of English composer John Tavener (1944-2013). Read his obituary (in The Guardian, by Michael J Stewart, today) here. An excerpt:
"For the composer John Tavener, who has died aged 69, creativity sprang from religious faith. Many of his works held an appeal for audiences that did not necessarily identify with contemporary music or the theological values from which he started. However, their response meant a great deal to him: he took their engagement as an affirmation that his music was operating on a spiritual level.
"It took until halfway through Tavener's career for him to receive substantial recognition. This came with The Protecting Veil (1989), the "icon in sound" for cello and strings inspired by the Mother of God and premiered at the BBC Proms by Steven Isserlis. The soloist found it to be "a gorgeous, romantic piece of music; the first performance was one of the highlights of my concert life", and his 1992 recording was a bestseller. Five years later, Tavener achieved global celebrity when his Song for Athene (1993) closed the funeral service for Diana, Princess of Wales ..."
* Tues Nov 12 2013: Got back yesterday from a trip to Adelaide for a school reunion. I can't get away with denying it so I might as well admit that it was the fiftieth anniversary of my leaving school. Crikey! Here is a shot of the collected blokes (it was a one-sex school). This shot shows Dave Cleland (front left), Brian Williams (front centre), me (front right), Kent Wallis (back left) and Dick Leeson (back right). Most of the blokes there I hadn't seen for those fifty years - it was very enjoyable catching up ... * Brother Rob ("Wes") was in charge while Peter and I were away. We had a WWOOFer there, Ionelle, who received a visit from another WWOOFer, Laetitia, from Cameroon, who blogged about it here. She includes lots of photos of where I live. * While in Adelaide I saw critic and music educator Elizabeth Silsbury, who subsequently sent me a review she'd written for Music Forum magazine and that I'd previously missed. It was of the Guitar Trek CD Six Fish, which includes my piece Songs and Marches:
A sincere tribute to their generous sponsor, the late Edda Filson, special thanks to luthier Graham Caldersmith, originator of the Guitar Family idea and promotion for four different Australian composers - Guitar Trek pay credit where credit is due in the quirkily named disc celebrating their 25th anniversary. They might also have acknowledged the recording engineer Niven Stevens and the ANU School of Music Studio, who have ensured high quality reproduction.
Timothy Kain, Minh Le Hoang, Daniel Mckay and Harold Gretton of Guitar Trek have been known to pluck away at Tchaikovsky and Brahms in pubic concerts. This time, dinky-di guitar pieces only.
Four of the six items have drawn inspiration from the wonderful world around us - flora, fauna, sea, sky.
Kain and co have been mindful of the cognoscenti, naming the various types of guitar (2 x nylon string classical, 1 x dobro resonator, 1 x 12 string) for their title piece. Ichthyologists might discern references to the marine creatures in Nigel Westlake's Six Fish. For laywoman me, the Slingjaw Wrasse sounds like a bully boy, Leafy Sea Dragon (emblem of my holiday refuge, the Fleurieu Peninsula) drifts and darts trailing seaweedy bits.
Phillip Houghton's Nocturne started life as a piano piece with a whimsical verse about dawn, a beach and a man. His programme notes for Wave Radiance take us deep down into the ocean, with exotic sea creatures flashing past a repeated figure.
Richard Charlton looks heavenward for Capricorn Skies. Although ambitious, his aims as expressed in words are largely fulfilled in his soundscapes. Pictures of The Southern Cross over a black sea, A sky for dreaming and Opal sky with birds come readily to the mind's eye.
Charlton finds four minutes' worth of material in an old song in Dreams and Dances on Moreton Bay. Eminently listenable, morphing from reverie into knees-up with a jolly bass winning the tune. My appetite is whetted for a taste of the original setting - bush violin and guitars made from fence-palings, a log and a crate.
Martin Wesley-Smith also looks to existing material. His Songs and Marches starts with a 12th century Andalusian melody for ud and draws into the mix bits and pieces from all over the place and several centuries.
'Some may care to see a political theme in this piece' he comments. Ha! Wesley-Smith political?
Some song fragements are immediately recognizable as jingoistic propaganda of countries we know and love, others named as belonging to the jack-booted Hitler Youth; marches are underpinned by percussing on the guitar bodies. Sophisticated settings, occasional tiddley poms, references to jazz, a wilful waltz, finally a return to the dear little tune, surviving , no matter what.
All are set with his masterly touch and played with infectious enjoyment by the Guitar Trek - guitar is his instrument, among many others, after all, and it shows. Readers with long memories still yearn for a CD of "Banjo the Singing Rabbit" and "Mister Thwump".
Elizabeth Silsbury
It's an excellent CD, that one. I feel privileged having had a piece selected for inclusion. It may be purchased from the Tall Poppies website. * I haven't seen any evidence of it, but surely the most ardent climate change "denialists" must occasionally think "What if I'm wrong?". It's getting harder and harder to dismiss phenomena such as the current disaster in the Philippines, hurricanes Sandy and Katrina, and the recent New South Wales bushfires coming so early in the season, as part of natural variation. Aided and abetted by the new government in Canberra, they will continue to cherry-pick the vast amount of evidence, ignoring uncomfortable conclusions while, instead, getting hysterical over something a so-called "warmist" said in a private email. * Fri Nov 1 2013: Have just seen a clip of Billy Joe Armstrong and Norah Jones talking about their new album of Everly Brothers songs, called Foreverly. Takes me back: when my twin brother Peter and I were about 14 we started singing Everly Brothers songs together as a duo. Songs like Take a Message to Mary. By then I'd started playing guitar, and Peter plucked a cello as if it were a double bass. Then a kid at school - Keith Conlon - whose father had a drum kit offered to play drums with us. We accepted, and were thereafter a trio. Or, rather, a rock star duo plus backing. He had on his kick drum a sign saying The Weserly Brothers & Me. He became a full member of the group (rather than just the drummer) when we were doing Bird Dog: he contributed the "He's a bird" interjections with more style than Peter or I could muster, so we let him do them, then cautiously allowed him to sing a bit. Later, when we'd become a folk trio in the style of the Kingston Trio, Brothers Four, Chad Mitchell Trio etc, he became the main vocalist. Just today Keith announced his impending retirement from the South Australian media scene, where he has been employed for 50 years. When he presented the popular Channel 9 television program Postcards SA (1995-2011), he was dubbed "Mr South Australia". * Mon Oct 28 2013:
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Selpius Bopii writes West Papuans live in terror, Mr Abbott in the Guardian, Thurs Oct 24 3013:
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Abbott is desperate for Indonesian assistance in realising his base political slogan "Stop the Boats". He's a committed Christian (a Catholic), but that's not enough, apparently, to engender any concern for the victims of Indonesia's policies in West Papua. Meanwhile, A report that claims Australian helicopters were used by Indonesia in a 1970s operation that killed more than 4,000 Papuans looks set to be dismissed by Jakarta, reports Kate Lamb on the SBS website:
According to an extensive report released by the Asian Human Rights Commission this week, thousands of West Papuans were killed in aerial raids, including by cluster bombs and napalm, in a bid to quell sectarian tensions following the national elections in 1977.
The report also states that two helicopters supplied by Australia were used during the military operations ...
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* Tues Oct 22 2013: Parts of New South Wales, especially the Blue Mountains, are expecting catastrophic fire conditions tomorrow. But here, south of Sydney, it's currently wet and chilly, with no sign of danger. It looks as though this weekend's Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival will be unaffected. * Environment Minister Greg Hunt has rebuked Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt, accusing him of politicising the NSW bushfires: "There has been a terrible tragedy in NSW and no one anywhere should seek to politicise any human tragedy let alone a bushfire of this scale," Mr Hunt said. This prompted Nick Feik to write (in the Monthly, Mon Oct 21 2013):
What if they keep burning for weeks?
What if the fires go all summer? Do we wait until the weather cools down?
If the fires stop, and we start talking about climate change, but then the fires start again, should we stop talking about climate change?
We were talking about climate change when the fires started. Should we have stopped?
If carbon-tax legislation is before parliament and the fires are still going, can we talk about that?
Does everyone need to not talk about climate change? Should climate scientists find something else to talk about while the fires are burning?
What's the minimum distance you should be away from the fires to talk about climate change? Do you need to be overseas?
Or is Tasmania far enough away? Perth?
Can someone who's been affected by the fires talk about climate change? What about their close friends? Or relatives? What if they ask us about climate change? Can we respond?
Can a fire-fighter talk about it?
If we can't talk about climate change, can we at least talk about unseasonal weather extremes? (Can people in Canberra talk about the severe frosts?)
So, we can talk about the weather, but not the climate?
Or can we talk about climate change, just not in political terms?
What do people mean by 'politicising' climate change? Is that the same as talking about it? Or is it talking about doing something about it that's the problem?
When people are killed by guns, can we talk about gun control?
In a shark attack, can we tell people to get out of the water?
Who do we ask to find out when we can talk about climate change again?
And is there anything else we shouldn't be talking about, just to be sure?
Yes, Nick, there is something else we shouldn't be talking about but as it's something we shouldn't be talking about I can't talk about it ... Tim Hollo can, however, and did, yesterday, in an article in yesterday's Guardian titled Why we need to politicise the bushfires:
But there is a no less real and even more terrifying fire threatening the home of every single one of us. Looming over the next ridge and coming our way at high speed is the catastrophic destabilisation of the global climate which has nurtured human civilisation. Like a bushfire lit by despicable arsonists, this is a fire of our own making. And, while it is less easy for us to see, it is a far more terrifying fire because we don't have the option of leaving our home and saving ourselves. Our home is our whole world. We have no alternative but to stay and fight for our lives ...
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* Mon Oct 21 2013: This morning we had a visit from a beautiful diamond python (Morelia spilota). There are dreadful fires in New South Wales at the moment, the worst, most destructive being in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney. There have been no fires, so far, near us - but conditions are worsening, with Wednesday shaping up to be a shocker. We're as ready as we can be ... * Fri Oct 18 2013: It was a horrendous fire day in New South Wales yesterday. Fortunately we were OK despite the potentially-deadly trifecta of high heat, low humidity and strong winds. The Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, were not so fortunate, however: as Megan Levy reports in the Sydney Morning Herald, "Streets of homes have been razed in the Blue Mountains and hundreds of residents have spent the night in evacuation centres after about 100 fires ravaged the state on Thursday in the worst bushfire emergency in more than a decade." Read more here. More dangerous fire conditions are on their way. We've checked our pumps, tightened connections, and tested the sprinklers that are stationed around the house ready to drench it and surrounding areas should a fire be on its way. We have protective clothing ready should we decide to stay and fight (this will depend partly on the official rating: if it's "catastrophic" then the advice is to get out, go somewhere safe, and hope for the best). * With the help of brother Rob and WWOOFers Heather and Thomas I've dug over, prepared and planted my vegetable garden. There's still a lot to do (isn't there always with a garden?), but at least some vegies are in and have started growing while I catch up on other things. * I heard yesterday that the Australia Ensemble has programmed a performance of my piece db at one of its subscription concerts next year (8pm Sat August 16 2014, Sir John Clancy Auditorium, University of New South Wales). The blurb in the brochure says: "Martin Wesley-Smith's db honours the memory and achievement of one of the important figures of Australia's musical efflorescence of the last seventy years, the late Don Banks (hence the initials that form the title of this score), while affirming Wesley-Smith's own high and individual talents." * I've recently made digital versions of the sheet music of two kids' songs, on request: Who Stopped the Rain?, arranged for six voices a cappella, and Climb the Rainbow, arranged for four voices a cappella. Feel free to download copies for use with your choir or vocal group. Rainbow comes from 1980 or so when my wife at the time, Ann North, was writing scripts for various children's radio and television programs. She needed a song about a rainbow but couldn't find one, so she jotted out a few words and gave them to me, saying "by 9am, please", meaning that by 9 o'clock next morning she needed her lyric fashioned into a song. I did what I was told, as always, coming up with what has proved to be a beautiful and enduring little song. Ten years or so later I arranged it for voices. Rain is even older - from 1965, in fact. Brother Peter and I wrote it as part of a children's piece called Mister Thwump, which our vocal and instrumental trio The Wesley Three recorded for CBS on a large flat black round thing made of vinyl called an "LP". I arranged it for six voices (SSATBarB) in 1990 or so for The Song Company, who have performed it many times. * Tues Oct 8 2013: The fund-raising film event/concert Not the Kangaroo Valley Buster Keaton Silent Movie Show happened last Saturday night and was generally considered a great success. Phew! Big effort. We raised over $3000 for projects in Timor-Leste, which ain't bad for a little old country hall. See the on-line version of the printed program here. Many thanks to all who contributed, especially pianist/composer Robert Constable and singer Amelia Cormack. Excerpts from some of the post-event emails received:
A hard act to follow, but I'm sure you'll aim to outdo it next year.
Now you can relax!
... Well done lads ...
* I'm trying not to comment on the Abbott government's appalling start (the hypocrisy, the lies, the snouts in the taxpayers' trough, and so on), but Abbott's eagerness to appease Indonesia in the hope that it will "stop the boats" on his behalf spells grave danger for the indigenous people of West Papua:
I hope the West Papuan students who entered the Bali consulate did leave voluntarily ("Protesters breach consulate walls in protest about torture", October 7). Some reports have indicated they were told they would be handed over to the Indonesian military if they did not leave. Budi Hernawan's study on torture in West Papua by the security forces is enough to raise grave concerns about such a threat were it given by consular staff.
On his first visit to Indonesia as Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the "government of Australia takes a very dim view, a very dim view indeed, of anyone seeking to use our country as a platform for grandstanding against Indonesia. We will do everything that we possibly can to discourage this and to prevent this." I hope this is not a threat to human rights activists who might try to raise concerns about the ongoing human rights abuses in West Papua.
Joe Collins, Australia West Papua Association, Mosman
That was published in today's Sydney Morning Herald. I think it's important, from many points of view, that Australia strive for an excellent relationship with Indonesia. But being good friends doesn't mean refraining from commenting when the other side engages in appalling behaviour, like the TNI's actions in West Papua. Abbott's threat to human rights activists is alarming. What will he do? What can he do? In the concert in Kangaroo Valley Hall last Saturday, a rendition of Ol' Man River was accompanied by images of exploitation, including shots taken in West Papua. Are such performances to be banned in future, or will they be raided and shut down by Commonwealth police? Will Abbott attempt to prevent comment such as this one? Whither our fragile democracy? Meanwhile,
The Australian prime minister appeared to shrug off reports of human rights abuses in the troubled province, arguing the situation in West Papua was "getting better, not worse", courtesy of reforms implemented by the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
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"Better off" compared to what? The notion that the people of West Papua might like to decide for themselves what's best for them appears not to have crossed Abbott's mind. Apparently he is happy for them to be sacrificed on the altar of expediency. An article in yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald - West Papuans 'tortured, terrorised', by Jenny Denton - must be in Abbott's firing line. Whatever was the SMH thinking in publishing this deviation from what is now Australia's official line? Meanwhile, I find Abbott's hypocrisy over parliamentarians' expenses quite shocking (see Tony Abbott claimed $600 to attend Peter Slipper's wedding in yesterday's SMH). There are some great comments from the public, including this one from Redsaunas, 7.02am Oct 8:
For something frightening and shocking, read about the highly secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership that's coming up. * Wed Sept 25 2013:
Fellow composer Vincent Plush writes:
The stripling was, of course, Vincent himself. We eventually forgave Rex for that appalling lapse in judgement (er, that's a joke ...)
* Sun Sept 22 2013:
A lot of emails from satisfied trekkers have already been received. Some examples:
Our team, the Mountain Wonderers, also take our hat off to the clever, creative people who came up with the marvellous movie quiz. We had such fun trying to work them all out.
Thank for making my first endurance event such a great experience and I have to say I am now inspired to take on other treks in the future.
Wonderful news that the fundraising was so successful. Thank you for the opportunity to support this worthwhile cause and it is good to know we have helped to light up the lives of some people around Remexio.
All in all, a memorable day. THANK YOU.
Biggest thank you!
I should say that although I'm a nominal member of KVRP, have organised many of its fund-raisers (including the event on Oct 5), and continue to support the people of Timor-Leste, I contributed zero to this year's Trek for Timor. That was in the hands of a remarkable bunch of local stalwarts whose dedication, hard work, creativity, sound planning, combined skills, attention to detail, and so on, is a wonder to behold. * I like this comment - and many others - by Peter Ormonde, farmer, in response to a brilliant article - Alienation to alien nation by Julian Burnside in a recent edition of The Conversation:
* Tues Sept 17 2013: On Sunday Peter and I drove to Canberra for a concert by Canberra Choral Society. Under Artistic Director Tobias Cole, the Canberra Choral Society chorus, along with other vocal groups Kompactus, New Voices and Turner Trebles, performed an entire concert of music by Australian composers, including excerpts from our epic piece from 2001 Black Ribbon. The other composers included Calvin Bowman, Daniel Brinsmead, Peter Campbell, Judith Clingan, Wilfrid Holland, Stephen Leek, Ruth Lee Martin, Hans Gunter Mommer (arranger), Matthew Orlovich, Peter Sculthorpe, Anthony Smith, Olivia Swift, Sally Whitwell, Malcolm Williamson and David Yardley - phew! Yes, it was a long program. Too long, in my view, but a great testament to the energy, variety and quality of contemporary Australian choral music. Of Canberra's choral community, too. Congratulations, and thanks, to all involved. Black Ribbon, for six vocal soloists, choir and orchestra, was a 2001 Centenary of Federation commission. An hour long, it took us most of a year to create, but it received just one performance, to an audience of 300 or so on a Thursday night in Canberra. It was not recorded, the ABC pleading recent budget cuts. Since then, though, some of the songs from the piece, including She Wore a Black Ribbon, have been performed by The Song Company and others. The Canberra Choral Society has expressed interest in reviving the whole work, needless to say a delicious prospect! To read Peter's irreverent, humorous but ultimately highly serious libretto, click here. * Preparations are almost complete for Saturday's fundraising Trek for Timor in Kangaroo Valley. Proceeds will go towards a solar lighting scheme in villages in Remexio, Timor-Leste. If you would like to donate towards this project, or sponsor a trek team or individual walker, click here. * Fri Sept 13 2013: Last weekend's victory of the LNP (Liberal-National Party) in Australia's federal elections happened as anticipated. The ALP (Australian Labor Party) has no-one to blame but itself. Well, Rupert Murdoch played a part, as did Australia's shock jocks and others. But the ALP threw away, over six years, an enormous amount of the goodwill felt by many in Australia after the demise of the Howard government in 2007. I blame, most of all, union secretary Paul Howes, who was largely responsible, so I gather, for the replacement of Kevin Rudd by Julia Gillard. I've heard that there are moves for him to take Bob Carr's senate seat when Carr moves on. If that happens, [a] it will show that the ALP has still not learned any lessons from its recent defeats, and [b] I won't vote for them again. From my perspective, the Greens are looking better and better ...
Music Critic Dennis Koks writes: "The brilliant virtuosity of Ambre Hammond on piano and the intense, romantic passion of Marcello Maio, on piano-accordion, drawing us into the world of Piazzolla's Tango ... truly, a musical marriage forged in heaven!" The CD can be ordered directly from Ambre by emailing her here.
The photo at left [click!] is of Ambre in Spain. Other photos here, here and here.
Melbourne activist Louise Byrne has written a letter to the flotilla. Read it here. * Thurs Sept 05 2013: In today's Guardian, Marni Cordell writes;
Greens senator Richard Di Natale has accused shadow foreign minister Julie Bishop of inciting the Indonesian military to act against the West Papuan Freedom Flotilla.
The flotilla of Australian and West Papuan activists is sailing from Cairns to West Papua to raise awareness of human rights abuses under Indonesian rule.
Di Natale wrote to Bishop this week to express concern about her public comments on the flotilla. "This peaceful protest does not pose any threat to Indonesia and to imply otherwise has the potential to put Australian lives in danger," he wrote. "Your comments run the very real risk of inflaming an already tense situation given the threatening language already used by senior members of the Indonesian security forces."
He told Guardian Australia: "I'm concerned that Julie Bishop, who looks likely to be the new foreign minister after Saturday, is inflaming tensions and seems to be inciting the Indonesian military to act in a way that is completely disproportionate to what's being done - which is basically a peaceful protest in Indonesian waters.
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It is indeed looking likely that after Saturday's federal election Ms Bishop will be Australia's Foreign Minister. This is too depressing to contemplate. * Tues Sept 03 2013: "The Freedom Flotilla will go down in history", writes activist Shirley Shackleton in today's newmatilda.com. Let's hope it doesn't go down, as in to the bottom of the ocean, as it confronts Indonesian authorities determined to stop the world learning the truth about what they are doing in West Papua. Read the article here. The flotilla is nearing its destination and its inevitable confrontation with Indonesian forces. For more information, click here.
*
Wed August 28 2013:
(photo: Peter Hislop)
As well as the music and the composers, this program will draw attention to the role that Canberra played in their lives and careers. How did a fellowship in Canberra eventually lead to Malcolm Williamson receiving the Order of Australia? What great gift did Canberra present to Peter Sculthorpe to commemorate his 80th birthday? Why did a Centenary of Federation commission by Martin Wesley-Smith divide the Canberra Choral Society?
Why indeed?
* Educator, organizer and researcher Dr Jason MacLeod asks, in an article in Fair Observer, Is a Free West Papua on the Horizon? and notes that "West Papua is Indonesia's Palestine". He concludes:
(Indonesia) cannot have it both ways. Either they have nothing to hide and let the international press see what is happening in West Papua, or they admit they are an occupying army committing human rights violations to maintain an increasingly tenuous claim that their rule in West Papua is legitimate. Ultimately, the Indonesian government will need to enter into some kind of political settlement.
West Papua is Indonesia's Palestine. Until people like Karma and Rumkabu have the opportunity to freely decide whether they want to remain with Indonesia or not, any claims by the Indonesian state that West Papua is a democracy will ring hollow.
To read the complete article, click here. See, also, Blood And Tears Continue To Flow In Papua by Selpius Bobii. * See this:
By 1988, U.S. intelligence was flowing freely to Hussein's military. That March, Iraq launched a nerve gas attack on the Kurdish village of Halabja in northern Iraq.
A month later, the Iraqis used aerial bombs and artillery shells filled with sarin against Iranian troop concentrations on the Fao Peninsula southeast of Basrah, helping the Iraqi forces win a major victory and recapture the entire peninsula. The success of the Fao Peninsula offensive also prevented the Iranians from launching their much-anticipated offensive to capture Basrah. According to Francona, Washington was very pleased with the result because the Iranians never got a chance to launch their offensive.
It's from an article titled Exclusive: CIA Files Prove America Helped Saddam as He Gassed Iran and shows that the U.S. knew Saddam Hussein was launching, against Iran, some of the worst chemical attacks in history yet still gave him a hand. In condemning Syria, it plasters the H word in big bold letters on its forehead. US Secretary of State John Kerry says "Let me be clear. The indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity. By any standard it is inexcusable ..." What he means is "The killing of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity when it's done by someone we don't like." Read about it here. Robert Scheer has written an article titled The Moment the US Ended Iran's Brief Experiment in Democracy in which he reminds us that "Sixty years ago this week, the CIA successfully staged a coup to overthrow (Iranian) Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh." Is it any wonder that Iranians hate the "Great Satan" so passionately? * Mon August 26 2013: My only response to most of the political news one gets these days is extreme skepticism. The alleged use of chemical weapons in Damascus is a case in point: while it may have been the Government that was responsible, the attack has the hallmarks of a "false flag" operation designed to bring other forces, particularly those of Great Britain and the USA, into the conflict on behalf of the so-called "rebels" ("Western countries, including Britain, are planning to take unilateral military action against the Assad regime within two weeks in retaliation for its alleged use of chemical weapons on civilians in Syria." [ref]). Weapons of mass destruction in Syria? Quick, invade! It all seems too convenient for forces that have been itching to get in there for twenty years or more but haven't yet had a convincing pretext. While I abhor the use of chemical weapons, I don't see a fundamental difference between them, on the one hand, and, on the other, depleted uranium and white phosphorous, both of which the USA has used in Afghanistan and Iraq. Is the use of napalm, used by the USA in Vietnam and other countries, OK? How about Agent Orange, still causing birth defects in Vietnam today? And how about the USA's use of germ warfare in Korea, and its bombing of dams to flood farmland and cause massive starvation amongst ordinary Koreans? Watching Obama, Cameron and others huff and puff in self-righteous indignation about chemical weapons in Syria takes the cake ... * Every now and then a bloke needs a win, but there hasn't been a lot of 'em of late: Australia was thrashed in the Ashes (that's cricket), Sally Pearson was beaten in the 100m hurdles at the World Championships (athletics), the Sydney Swans were beaten last weekend (Australian football), the Wallabies were beaten by the All-Blacks in the second Bledisloe Cup match (rugby), I failed to win a prize in a recent lottery run by local volunteer firefighters, and the Australian Labor Party is set to lose at the Federal Election on Sept 7. Actually, I wouldn't be particularly upset about the ALP losing if the likely winner were not the Liberal-National Party coalition and its odious leader and proven liar Tony Abbott. Bleak times ahead ... * The male narrator on the Sydney Philharmonia recording of my piece Boojum! is professional historian and part-time actor David Christian. He has recently been in the news for his development of what he calls Big History, which has attracted a lot of attention world-wide, including from Bill Gates. Read about it here. Talking of Boojum!, here's an excerpt from just one of many reviews of the show's Chicago production in 2010:
Read excerpts from more reviews here. * Wed August 21 2013: Yesterday I wrote an article for the Kangaroo Valley Voice, and designed a flyer, for a fundraising event coming up in Kangaroo Valley on Sat October 5 that I'm organising. For ten years I've been the main organiser of the Annual Kangaroo Valley Buster Keaton Silent Movie Show, featuring pianist Robert Constable. This year I thought it time to do something a little different, not least because we'd run out of the really funny Keaton features and shorts. A new version of the 1913 Australian film The Sick Stockrider would be just the ticket, we thought. It's a rather dreadful old movie, in my opinion, but interesting because of its place in the history of Australian cinema and because one of the actors in it was George Ellsworthy "Roy" Redgrave (26 April 1873- 25 May 1922), considered to be the first member of the Redgrave acting dynasty (Vanessa, Lyn etc). Brother Peter borrowed a DVD of the film from the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra. It seemed that a severely edited version of the film, with Constable's piano and a live reading by an actor of Adam Lindsay Gordon's original poem, might be a beautiful performance piece that would spark interest in Gordon and his poetry and in early Australian cinema. However, after protracted negotiations with the NFSA we've had to abandon the idea: even at a discounted price, it was all going to cost too much for one performance in a small country town to an audience of, say, 150 people. This is incredibly disappointing. I realise that the NFSA has to recover its costs wherever possible, but I venture to suggest that there is a vanishingly small audience for this and other early films and that new versions would give them new life and attract substantial audiences. After this we wanted to look at doing the same thing with The Sentimental Bloke, The Man from Kangaroo, and other early "silents". No go. Those films will sit in the NFSA vaults, rarely seen and gradually being forgotten ... * We're often told by governments and others when our rights are being trampled "If you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear". Exactly the same thing can be said to the governments that are screaming so loudly after the revelations coming from Manning, Wikileaks and Snowden. The exposés are showing that these governments have an enormous amount to hide. The hypocrisy is appalling ... * Wed August 7 2013: I had an enquiry today re possible performances and a recording of my kids' piece Pip!. And I had one the other day re my audio-visual pieces for clarinet & computer. Spring must be closer than I thought: that's interest showing itself, all of a sudden, in Pip!, Boojum!, Black Ribbon, and Weapons of Mass Distortion and other A-V pieces. * Mon August 5 2013: Am working on the program for a fundraising silent-movie-and-song night to be held in Kangaroo Valley Hall on Sat October 5. Over the past ten years we've put on ten "Annual Kangaroo Valley Buster Keaton Silent Movie Shows", with pianist Robert Constable accompanying Keaton silent features and shorts. We've added various other "silents" over the years, but the emphasis has always been on the comic genius of Buster Keaton. This year we're moving into other areas, including a locally-made silent, a 1913 Australian one, an original poem being read by an actor accompanied by piano, and several songs, most of them humorous. I'm hoping that in a couple of years' time the show will be entirely locally written and performed: songs, movies, audio-visual pieces, photographs, poetry, paintings and so on. * Every so often there's interest expressed in Peter's and my full-length piece about Lewis Carroll called Boojum!. There were some marvellous photographs taken of the 2010 Caffeine Theatre and Chicago Opera Vanguard production, and some rave reviews, which in order to assist with enquiries I've collected together on a separate website here. Copious clicks on links on the various Boojum! sites will reveal all. * I was reading a book the other day called The Company We Keep (text by Annarosa Berman, photographs by Bridget Elliot, Opera Australia, Currency Press 2006) and came across this:
There's a debate going on at the moment in Australian theatre to do with the liberties some directors take with the pieces they are directing. Some of my work has been so mutilated (emphatically not Boojum! in Chicago) that I'm most reluctant to get involved again in musical theatre. But give me Lindy Hume and I'll start on a new work tomorrow ...
MW-S: I believe that when Ira Gershwin was asked "What comes first, Mr Gershwin? The words or the music?" he replied: "The contract!" I imagine that that motivates a lot of composers, including me ... But there are many other factors: an abstract musical idea, for example, or even a phrase, that begs to be realised in some way and which leads to a whole piece. My For Marimba & Tape began life as a technical exercise on a Fairlight CMI ... A programmatic idea led to my choral piece Who Killed Cock Robin?: what really killed the bird? Perhaps the real culprit was not the sparrow but something far more sinister ... there are many influences. Some take root and thrive while others wither on the vine - I mean, on the wesley-smith ...
I met Amis (a cousin of Kingsley Amis) when he turned up at the Ninth Annual Kangaroo Valley Buster Keaton Silent Movie Show in 2012. He had been giving illustrated lectures in Australia on the music of Percy Grainger. He was most charming, and affable, with great knowledge and a wealth of stories, musical and otherwise. As bessabol commented at the end of the obituary mentioned above, "Another part of the soundtrack of my life has gone." StephenMcK writes: "A beguiling siffleur, a charming renderer of long faded folk-songs and a master raconteur of spontaneity, I consider it a pleasure to have been one of his listeners ..."
The photo at left [click!] is from a shot of the My Music team way back: Steve Race at piano and, left to right, Ian Wallace, Denis Norden, Frank Muir and John Amis. The shot at right [click!] was taken in 1997.
gjlebowski contributes a story of John Amis's about conductor John Pritchard:
Anyway, at the gates of Buckingham Palace they are halted by a police officer for a security check.
"No need to leave the car, sir, but if I could have the keys just to check inside your boot," says the constable.
Pritchard duly obliges and after a perfunctory inspection the officer comes back with the keys ... "Thank you, sir. Particularly nervous about the occasion are we?!"
I love the word "siffleur" (see above), although I have no idea what it means. STOP PRESS: I've just found a definition in The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles. It says: "Siffleur. 1703. [Fr.] a. An animal that makes a whistling noise, spec. the whistling marmot. b. (with fe, -euse). A whistling artiste 1923." According to my computer's dictionary, a marmot is "a heavily built, gregarious, burrowing rodent of both Eurasia and North America, typically living in mountainous country." I don't myself see John Amis as a whistling, heavily built, gregarious, burrowing rodent, but perhaps StephenMcK knew him better than I did. Nevertheless, "siffleur" remains a great word. * Sun July 21 2013:
I spent last week in Christchurch, New Zealand, where I was a Composer-in-Residence in the Music Department, University of Canterbury. Part of my duties involved presenting a lunchtime concert of some of my stuff, including some piano pieces for kids (Grey Beach, Griff's Riffs and Red Rag), some songs (Tommy Tanna, She Wore a Black Ribbon and I'm Walking in the City), and a couple of audio-visual pieces (Weapons of Mass Distortion and Papua Merdeka). Soprano Amy Jansen, ably accompanied by Iola Shelley on piano, gave a chillingly powerful performance of Black Ribbon. Pianist Robert Constable played the solo part of "Weapons" with feeling and precision. It was a successful concert, part of an enjoyable week in a department fighting to survive (student numbers plummeted after the two earthquakes in 2010 and 2011).
*
In an article titled New Film Shows U.S.-Backed Indonesian Death Squad Leaders Re-enacting Massacres, published on AlterNet on July 19 2013, American activist, author and radio presenter Amy Goodman interviews Joshua Oppenheimer, who is the director of a new film called The Act of Killing:
* Next week, at Lake Eyre in Central Australia, a group of people will set off for West Papua. The indigenous elders behind the protest are calling it the Freedom Flotilla to West Papua, and say it is "creative resistance" to the Indonesian occupation of West Papua. Spokesman Ronny Kareni says they are trying to send a solidarity message. Listen to a report on Radio Austraia here. * Sat June 29 2013: Last night I went to hear The Song Company present its Old Songs, New Songs, Shared Songs program in Wollongong. The highlight was the first performance, with local choir con voci, of a new cantata by Hal Judge (libretto) and Timothy Hansen (music) called Howls of the House. Terrific piece! Well performed, too, although it will get better with more performances (at the Conservatorium Theatre, Newcastle, with the University of Newcastle Chamber Choir, 2.30pm Sun June 30; at Llewellyn Hall in Canberra with Oriana Chorale and other choirs, 4pm Sun July 7; and at the Italian Forum Cultural Centre in Leichhardt, Sydney, with the Leichhardt Espresso Chorus, 2pm Sun Aug 4). Also on the program, as it happened, were four of my songs: She Wore a Black Ribbon, sung by Mark Donnelly, The Duchess, Lord Jim and Me (Clive Birch), Tommy Tanna (Anna Fraser), and Recollections of a Foreign Minister (Richard Black). Each performance was superb. In addition we heard Benjamin Britten's 1942 piece Hymn to St Cecilia (this year is the 100th anniversary of Britten's birth), Andrew Ford's piece for six solo voices Australian Aphorisms (check out Andrew's website to get a feeling for his enormous productivity), and a couple of pieces for choir by Eric Whitacre: Five Hebrew Love Songs and Little Birds. * One of the reasons I haven't blogged much in recent times is the appalling so-called "broadband" service we've had here, making doing anything on the internet an exercise in frustration. The satellite system provided by Westnet was working OK until six or so months ago when it suddenly stopped. The reason given: "It's raining"! Clearly Westnet knew there was a problem with the hardware on the roof but decided it was too much hassle and/or too expensive to fix. I crossed to the dark side and bought a wireless modem from Telstra. After working OK for a few weeks, it too became a dithering mess of unreliability and fluctuating but mostly snail-like speed (e.g. download 0.07Mbps/upload 0.02Mbps). I've now ordered a new satellite dish from Bordernet. It was going to be installed last Wednesday, but it was raining, so installation was postponed to today. It's still too wet, so the installer is coming in a couple of weeks' time. In the meatime, the Telstra service has decided to behave itself, with 1.37/0.05 being typical numbers from speedtest. More later ... * from The Scotsman, June 22 2013:
It's from an article titled Chan eil eilean sam bith 'na eilean, it's by Magaidh Nic A' Ghobhainn, and no, I don't understand what it says either (it's in Gaelic). See the whole article here.
* At the Senate estimates hearing on June 5, Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr said, as he has before, that people in Australia are playing a cruel deception on the people of West Papua: by demonstrating on behalf of the West Papuans' right to self-determination, activists are encouraging them to think that they might be in with a chance in their quest for independence. It's bad enough that Australian politicians, including Carr himself, don't stand up for West Papua; it's shocking that he should criticise those who do. Andrew Johnson claims that "West Papua is not part of Indonesia because it is a trust territory, a colony which has been subjected to Chapter XII of the UN Charter, the Trusteeship System when the General Assembly including Australia made resolution 1752 (XVII) approving UN occupation and responsibility under article 76 of the Charter for West Papua ... Carr has been unable to answer the question when and how has the world recognised Indonesian sovereignty over West Papua ..." Read more here. * Sat June 1 2013: Today I took two roosters - excess to our needs - to the Shoalhaven Zoo where they will be humanely put down then fed to the zoo's crocodiles. It's a sad fact of life that there can be only one cock in a chook-yard like ours. These two (Big Blue and Moriarty) had started trying to have it away with their aunties, forcing their Dad, Dave, to be on guard 24/7. Sorry, boys. Better luck in your next life. * Comments about Ros Dunlop's and my recent concert in North Cyprus have been flowing in. They include (excerpts):
And this:
The following excerpt came from someone who wasn't there but had received emails about it:
I must say that I am at a loss to understand that comment. Papua Merdeka contains a total of two or three shots of dead bodies, and these are less confronting that what one often sees on the evening news on television. I suspect that the objection - which was not made to me, even though there was ample opportunity in the concert for people to discuss any relevant issue - came from people who disagreed with the politics of the pieces but could not cogently argue for an alternative viewpoint so they attacked it on other grounds. The description "graphically explicit" must have referred to photographs of bare-breasted women and men wearing penis gourds. I make no apology for those shots, for that is the way most indigenous West Papuans were before the Indonesians arrived. It is not up to me to censor, or try to cover up, reality. Ros played Ppaua Merdeka at the Boite in Melbourne last Saturday night. A friend wrote:
A presentation of Ppaua Merdeka is a great way to get a discussion going about the situation in West Papua. I present a point of view then invite audience members to express their views. Sometimes this leads to really interesting discussions. * Tues May 21 2013:
The concert attracted some rave responses. Some critical ones, too, which is OK by me: this program is designed to stimulate discussion, even controversy, about important issues.
The dude on the left is Chan Kam Biu, Joshua, an ex-student of mine at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music who now teaches at the University of Hong Kong. Good composer! I had dinner last night with him and some members of my HKU class of '95. Click on Biu's photo to see, left to right, Alicia, Kolly, Loritta, Pamela, Ivy, me, Joshua and Annie. Alicia, who wasn't around back then, is Pamela's daughter. It was a great thrill to see them all again. Am seeing other old friends too, but don't have time this trip for a reunion with our Hong Kong WWOOFers. Next time.
* Mon May 6 2013: The fourth biennial Kangaroo Valley Arts Festival concluded yesterday with a concert that included a performance by David Pereira of my piece Jerrinja Song, for solo cello. He played it - and sang it - superbly, and the audience loved it. I composed that piece in 1999. It received one performance back then, and one a few years ago by an ex-student of David's, Rachel Scott. Now that it has been revived, I'm hoping it will score a few more performances before it's put back onto the shelf. Read my notes on the piece here. Another piece of mine, Aurora Wynnis, was included in Alice in Antarctica, a compilation of pieces using film, electric harp, an FX unit, spoken word and song put together and performed by harpist Alice Giles. I was responsible for the sound and image projection. As the concert was held at 10.30am, this involved getting up at 4.45 to load up with gear to get to the hall by 6. Alice needed to watch the screen, which was behind her, so I set her up with a wireless link from the main computer to an iPad, a solution that worked well (thanks to Oskar Wesley-Smith for showing me how). The concert was to do with Alice's grandfather, Cecil T Madigan, who was the meteorologist on Douglas Mawson's Australian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-14. The performance was enthusiastically received by the audience. * A couple of weeks ago I attended a one-day symposium at UTS (University of Technology, Sydney) on "Music and the Environment", organised by Hollis Taylor and others. As part of the symposium, clarinettist Ros Dunlop and I presented three of my so-called "political" audio-visual pieces: X (1999), about Timorese resistance leader Xanana Gusmão, Weapons of Mass Distortion (2003), about propaganda and official lies, especially those that led to the invasion of Iraq, and Papua Merdeka (2005), about the plight of the indigenous people of West Papua. Later this month we're going to present this concert in North Cyprus. Ros Dunlop's beautiful book on the traditional musical instruments of East Timor, Lian Husi Klamar ("Sounds of the Soul") recently won a gold medal at the Independent Publishers book awards in the USA.
*
I love living in this small rural community except for one thing:
we can't get fast and reliable broadband here. As I explain
below,
a slow and expensive satellite service provided by Westnet
recently gave way to a wireless modem provided by Telstra.
I wrote, foolishly, that this "is marginally more reliable (so far),
cheaper (I think), and faster." In the past week, however, it has
slowed down to the extent that I would be better off using a
telephone modem. It's Easter, so I can't sort it out till Tuesday.
In the meantime, you probably won't get to see this 'cos the modem
will be unable to upload it. It's incredibly frustrating, especially
as I'm trying to book my passage to North Cyprus in mid-May for
a concert of some of my audio-visual works. Clarinettist
Ros Dunlop and I will be
presenting X, about Xanana
Gusmão and Timor-Leste,
Weapons of Mass Distortion, about official
propaganda and the invasion of Iraq, and Papua
Merdeka, about the plight of the indigenous people
of West Papua.
* Mon March 25 2013:
This comes from an article, Noam Chomsky: 'No Individual Changes Anything Alone', by Aida Edemariam, published in The Guardian, UK, on March 23. Read it here. I was an activist for many years in the cause of the people of East Timor, who were subjugated by Indonesia from 1975 to 1999. After a while I realised that while it was important to keep writing letters to newspapers, politicians etc, and to attend demos, perhaps the best contribution I could make was through composing audio-visual pieces about East Timor and putting them on at concerts and rallies. Thus Kdadalak (For the Children of Timor) and more than a dozen other pieces came into being. Did my efforts change anything? Almost certainly not. But my pieces, plus other people's poems, songs, letters, placards, demos, books, plays, photos, films, and so on, plus the efforts of Noam Chomsky, who was a great supporter of the rights of the people of East Timor from the beginning, together created a river of change for East Timor that led to the carnage and heartbreak but ultimate victory of 1999. Incidentally, I went to a talk Chomsky gave in San Diego in the early 90s. He told the story of someone recently ringing him up and asking if he would be able to give a talk to a particular group on a particular date ten years hence. He thought that, without checking his diary, he was indeed free on that date. A little while later the person rang again to ask him what the topic of his talk would be. "Aaaah" he said, "Let it be 'The Current Crisis in the Middle East'!" Everyone in the lecture hall laughed, for we all thought that, surely, the problems in the Middle East will be solved in ten years' time. It's now more than twenty years later, and the situation is as bad as ever. * Fri March 22 2013: Last night I attended a meeting - a GetTogether - of local members of GetUp, a grass-roots organisation of people concerned about such things as environmental sustainability, economic fairness and social justice. We discussed these and other issues important to us, coming up with a list, in decreasing importance, of what we considered were the ten most important issues needing to be addressed in Australia:
These issues have been forwarded to GetUp to be collated with the responses from the hundreds of other GetTogethers that were held last night across Australia It is interesting that both the Labor and Liberal parties in Australia have about 100,000 members. GetUp, with 626,616, will be a force to be reckoned with at the next fedeal election (scheduled for Sept 14 this year). Our group ranged from someone in her early 20s to a bloke in his 80s. It included an ex-navy man, an accountant, a meteorologist, a Uniting Church minister and a beauty parlour owner. All have been energised by the state of politics in Australia and the desperate needs of our social and physical environments. We are planning to meet again to finesse our concerns and to act as a pressure group bringing these issues to local political candidates, media and other citizens. * My main area of activity during the past couple of months has been the organisation of a variety concert to raise money for a local identity, Hugh Sinclair, who suffered severe damages to his left leg in a fall about six months ago and hasn't been able to work since. We put the concert on last Saturday night, and it was a great success! I was delighted, I must say. As you can see from the program (537KB, pdf), there were singers, actors, musos, movies, comics and a bush poet, all Kangaroo Valley locals. A lot of the night was very funny! One of my artistic contributions was an audio-visual version of the old parlour song The Green-Eyed Dragon. I originally wanted a local baritone to sing it, accompanied by a local pianist. But the pianist didn't have the time, so I started practising it myself. At the same time I started working on a computer version of the backing, complete with the lyric and suitable graphics, that could follow the singer through the extended rubato sections. Then the singer pulled out. Having done a lot of work on it which I didn't want to throw away, I decided to finish it and sing it myself. Now I'm not a great singer, but no-one was listening to me; instead everyone was watching the quick-moving graphics on the screen and their portrayal of Julia Gillard as the Fair Princess and Tony Abbott as the Dragon. It was funny and topical, and it's a great old song, so it wasn't hard to delight the audience. Ha! Excerpts from some of the post-concert emails received:
The photo at left is of Jo Stirling, a member of the group (click on the
image to see all members at the rehearsal before the gig: Janette Carter,
Peter Morgan, Jo, me, Patsy Radic and
Peter Stanton. We sang
Freddie the Fish, a variation called Bazza the Bass
(about coal seam gas mining in Kangaroo Valley (there isn't any, and won't be
any)), and Shut the Gate, a kids' song I wrote with my wife,
Ann North, many years ago and which has proved to be remarkably resilient
and popular.
At this stage there are no plans to keep Parched as a working group, nor
to resurrect the Thirsties. I am planning a silent movie event in October,
but apart from that will be getting back into my own work. I have various
projects on the back burner, including a piece for singing cellist. I would
like to create a Green-Eyed Dragon-style audio-visual
piece but with original words, music and graphics. The next
local event I'll be involved with will be the
Kangaroo Valley
Arts Festival, May 3-5. I gather a couple of pieces of mine will
be performed there: Jerrinja Song (David Pereira, cello) and
Aurora Wynnis (Alice Giles, harp).
I really loved your Green Eyed Dragon Martin, though he looked more of a
monster to me, the princess was a bit dodgy too but you sang it very, very
well and the visuals were brilliant. Possibly the highlight for me ...
Patsy (Radic) and Jeremy (Butterworth) were very lovely
together with great choice of songs. I did
like Michael Moore's little film with great sound track. Seeing
DDan again was a real
hoot, the strobe lighting and reappearance of the lovers was wonderful ...
Anyway it was very interesting and
most unusual. It was all good to varying degrees, a true 'Variety Show' ...
Anyway well done lads, do it again soon.
DDan is Dirty Dan, a silent movie I shot and edited in Kangaroo Valley ten years ago. Robert Constable played piano for it back then; we recorded his playing, complete with audience reactions, and put it onto the movie so that it was no longer silent.
The "two Peters" were Peters Morgan and Stanton, who did a hilarious presentation of Offenbach's The Gendarmes' Duet accompanied by Patsy Radic on piano.
Unfortunately, an audio-visual piece about current political figures inevitably violates various copyrights. I'm happy to borrow photographs that are already on the web for a three-minute piece at a once-only fund-raiser in a country hall, but putting the piece on YouTube is a step too far (not that anyone else seems to think so, I must admit).
That last comment hits the nail on the head: "such a creative, warm community". Kangaroo Valley is indeed that. And more. * The 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq - in my opinion the greatest war crime committed during my lifetime - has led to the usual suspects proclaiming how right it was. There have also been articles looking at the reality of life today in Iraq. An example: Iraq: War's legacy of cancer, by Dahr Jamail, published by ALJAZEERA on March 15:
Many prominent doctors and scientists contend that DU contamination is also
connected to the recent emergence of diseases that were not previously seen
in Iraq, such as new illnesses in the kidney, lungs, and liver, as well as
total immune system collapse. DU contamination may also be connected to the
steep rise in leukaemia, renal, and anaemia cases, especially among children,
being reported throughout many Iraqi governorates ...
Dr Savabieasfahani explained that her research proves areas of Fallujah,
as well as Basra, "are contaminated with lead and mercury, two highly toxic
heavy metals", from US bombings in 1991 and during the 2003 invasion.
"Exposure to metals, as well as to ionizing radiation, can lead to cancer," she added.
She said that, when the DU munitions explode or strike their targets, they
generate "fine metal-containing dust particles as well as DU-containing
particles that persist in the environment. These particles can enter the
food chain and enter the human body via contaminated food. Toxic particles
can also become airborne with the wind and be inhaled by the public. Iraq
is prone to frequent sand and dust storms. Continuous public inhalation of
toxic materials can lead to cancer. Ingested or inhaled particles that emit
alpha radiation can cause cancer." ...
[more]
Check out, if you dare, this video. See, also, an interview with Dahr Jamail here. And everyone should read Chris Floyd's Barbarian Rhapsody: Ten Years Deeper Into Hell: "America's amnesia regarding the war crime in Iraq and its continuing ramifications -- not only the repression and death still going on there, but also the catastrophic impact of this atrocity on America itself, including the tsunami of suicide, homelessness and PTSD among its soldiers, and the back-breaking costs of this orgy of corruption and war-profiteering -- is indeed remarkable." * On February 12 my DPhil supervisor at the University of York, composer Richard Orton, suddenly passed away. An excellent obituary, by Archer Endrich, can be found here:
In the words of Ross Kirk, his former colleague at York, "Richard was an inspiration
to us all, both in terms of his own vision and in terms of the wider community to which
he introduced us (particularly the CDP). His dedication to the cause was always utterly
beyond any doubt."
Richard's creativity grew from his depth as a thinker, his inner confidence, and from
a deep spirituality. His influence runs deep, a fact that becomes ever clearer in
retrospect. We shall all feel his loss keenly.
[more]
See, also, this obituary from the University of York Music Press. * Mon Feb 11 2013: Australian trombonist Tom Burge, who lives in the USA, wrote on facebook today to say that an audience he had last week in Arkansas loved my piece White Knight & Beaver. He will be performing it again in the coming weeks in Utah, in Winston Salem NC, and in Charlotte on a new music series called Fresh Ink. * I'm currently organising a fundraising variety concert for a local bloke, Hugh Sinclair, who six months ago broke his leg so badly that he hasn't been able to work, or even walk, since. Local singers, actors, movie-makers etc are rallying around to put on a show that truly puts the V into Variety. Venue: Kangaroo Valley Hall. Time: 7.30pm. Date: Sat March 16 2013. * Fri Jan 25 2013: I occasionally check out a blog called Little Darwin, usually because its author often writes about my ratbag brother Rob Wesley-Smith. A recent (Jan 22) entry called "DANGEROUS" MAN FIGHTS FOR TRUTH is a paean to Rob's stands on behalf of oppressed people everywhere:
Little Darwin has been given the privilege of a quick peek at the
documents, parts of which are blanked out ...
[more]
Here's an entry (Jan 19) about clarinettist Ros Dunlop, with whom I've made several international tours presenting my so-called "political" audio-visual works:
One of Australia's leading clarinetists, Ros Dunlop, who captured
the musical soul of Timor-Leste, is expected to pass through Darwin tomorrow
on her way to that country. After 10 years of research, she wrote Lian Husi: Musika
Tradisional Husi Timor-Leste (Sounds of the Soul: The Traditional Music
of East Timor). The unique book was supported by the United States Ambassadors'
Fund For Cultural Preservation. Dunlop made her first trip to Timor-Leste in
April 2002 with Timor activist brothers Robert and Martin Wesley-Smith and
gave concerts which included Martin's audio-visual pieces about East Timor.
She became enchanted by the country, its people, culture and began making
regular visits to record the local music. Darwin agronomist, Robert Wesley-Smith,
recently received an author's presentation copy of the book with an inscription
saying it would never have been written without his help. He said Dunlop was
a tireless worker and entertainer; he recalled that one night she, he and
his brother were accommodated in a police cell as they travelled about the
country. Dunlop was enthusiastically supported by many people, including
musicians, translators, artists from the Arte Moris Art School and young
Timorese from the audio-visual archive Centro Archivo Max Stahl
Timor-Leste. Well-illustrated, the book is in Tetun and English.
Copies can be ordered through
rosdunlop@teekeemedia.com.
It's a beautiful book and an important contribution to Australian musicology. Ros first got involved with Timor through playing my piece X, which was originally written for American clarinettist F. Gerard Errante, who commissioned it in 1999. Other so-called "political" pieces of mine she has played include Welcome to the Hotel Turismo and Tekee Tokee Tomak, both about East Timor, Weapons of Mass Distortion, about propaganda, especially that that led to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and Papua Merdeka, about the plight of the indigenous people of West Papua. * I've written an article for the local journal of record, The Kangaroo Valley Voice, about the local vocal group hanging up its hat:
It was probably our best ever performance, making it a fitting finale to
nearly six years of music-making.
In the beginning, in early 2007, a few singers from Carlos Alvarado's
Courthouse Choir in Berry got together to explore some different repertoire.
After a few singalongs, some left, some stayed, and a core membership of seven
emerged. I took the reins as musical director and started doing new arrangements
and modifying existing ones.
Thursday nights suited everyone for a regular rehearsal hence the group's name.
An alternative suggestion - rejected - was "Herding Cats", which is what it
sometimes felt like when I was organising gigs and extra rehearsals.
Our original intention was to sing just to each other, for our own pleasure,
but after a while we realised that we occasionally needed to sing to others
to ensure we achieved as high a standard as possible. Our first "gig" was in
2008 at Peter and Louise Morgan's place to an audience of friends. We were
pretty raw that night, but we rapidly improved.
Before that - in January 2007 - we'd sung with others in a choir that
performed with soprano Annalisa Kerrigan, harpist Genevieve Lang
and violinist Jennifer Hoy in Kangaroo Valley Hall. We sang a song about
East Timor as well as the choral parts in a new arrangement of Eric
Bogle's classic song And the Band Played "Waltzing Matilda".
See www.shoalhaven.net.au/~mwsmith/khl.html.
Also in 2008 we joined others to sing with the Seven Harp Ensemble -
SHE - from Canberra. We sang Gabriella's Song, from the Swedish
film As It Is In Heaven, and Seven Widows at the Gates of Sugamo,
which we subsequently recorded for a CD - Bolmimerie - released by
Tall Poppies Records. Later that year we sang in a workshop at
Bundanon with a cappella group The Idea of North, a
valuable experience that gave us confidence to sing at a concert at
Yarrawa Estate the following February. See
www.wesley-smith.info/yarrawa09.html.
In 2009 we sang in Canberra and Yass as part of the David Pereira Cello
Series. Shortly after this, soprano Alex Holliday from Berry left
the group due to work pressures. We were fortunate to be able to
replace her with Nadia Intihar, whose inclusion caused the average
age of the group to plummet.
Since then there were many other performances, including an East Timor
benefit in Sydney, three Kangaroo Valley Folk Festivals, the Shoalhaven
Folk Club, an "Up a River" fundraiser, a magical night at the Gallery
in December 2011, a song at that year's Buster Keaton silent movie show,
two superb nights at the Gormans', and winning first prize in two categories
at last year's Shoalhaven Eisteddfod. We thought about, but ultimately
rejected, giving up our day jobs.
Any enterprise like The Thirsties takes up a lot of time and effort which,
for some, was harder and harder to give, what with jobs, kids and other
interests all competing for attention. We were losing our two sopranos,
which meant looking for replacements, auditions, teaching the new recruits
their parts, and so on. It seemed like a good time, while we were at the
top of our game, to call it quits.
Our thanks to all those who supported us, and our apologies for rendering
page 146 of The Art and Soul of Kangaroo Valley obsolete.
We're all having trouble contemplating a Thirsties-less future, so
we're thinking about fairly frequent reunions plus the occasional dinner
where we'll sing around the table. But we won't be learning new material
or doing gigs.
At a gig last year I heard someone say "Crikey! You can't go anywhere
in Kangaroo Valley without the flamin' Thirsties turning up and singin'
at ya!" Let me assure you, sir, that that won't happen again. But perhaps
something else will emerge to fill a very thirsty void.
* The other day I received the following email, out of the blue:
Thank you for composing wonderful music.
Thanks
[name]
* Sad to report that our five ducklings are now three. One disappeared (a fox? a bird of prey?); the other one, abandoned by its Mother Edwina, was looking poorly so I brought it inside to care for it. But a couple of hours later it died. I buried its poor fluffy little body in the garden. * Fri Jan 18 2013: Today we suffered through another record-breakingly hot day. In Sydney it reached 45.8 deg C (114.44 deg F) - 46.5 (115.7) in Western Sydney; down here at least 44 (111.2) and perhaps up to 48 (118.4). * I received an email today from one of three recent WWOOFers from mainland China. After a week here they'd left before they'd had a chance to write in our visitors' book. Mao Yinan wrote:
* Thurs Jan 17 2013: Critic Nick Barnard has written an excellent review of the David Pereira (cello)/Timothy Young (piano) Tall Poppies CD Blue Silence (TP222), which contains my piece Morning Star Lament. Excerpts:
Certainly that is the case with all the music presented here where the
extra-musical stimuli evoke strongly felt emotions even when expressed
in a 'contained' manner. Composer Martin Wesley-Smith clearly feels
the plight of the oppressed peoples of West Papua and expresses his
solidarity in Morning Star Lament. He describes the work as;
".. a lament
for those who have died resisting the occupation, for those who are
prisoners in their own country, for the destruction of their environment,
for the brutality of the occupiers, for the hypocrisy of the West?".
Strong stuff. As is my wont, I listened to this disc the first time
with no reference to the liner. With music I do not know it ensures
no preconceptions or expectations. In the case of this Lament it also
provided considerable confusion. In purely musical terms there is an
extraordinarily wide range of styles and moods encompassed in the nine
minutes of the work. This includes 'serious' contemporary clusters,
brilliant be-bop like syncopating passages, a curiously impressive
vocalise where one of the players, uncredited, accompanies themselves
(the other?) singing a plaintive wordless melody. At first listen, it
was the presence of a simple, almost saccharine melody richly harmonised
in the best traditions of the tea-shop that frames the work that confused
me. It turns out this melody, "O My Country Papua" was written in the 1930s
and became the colony's official anthem and at much the same time the
Morning Star flag became its official flag. When Indonesia took over
the country in 1963 both were banned. Certainly, knowing that cranks
up the emotional temperature of the work several notches and 'explains'
much of the music's thrust in an instant. It does leave the listener
with the eternal debate; should music need its context to be explained
before you can evenly partially understand it. As it happens this was
one of my favourite pieces on the disc even before I read the
explanation - I enjoyed the diversity of styles it embraces and again
it benefits from a very powerful performance. What one cannot divine
from the superficial knowledge of a work afforded by this kind of review
is whether/how the musical material of the anthem is transformed or
developed in the main body of the work.
Overall, this disc is an excellent sampler of the rich diversity
and range of contemporary cello music being written by Australian
composers. All credit to performers Pereira and Young for devoting
the considerable amount of time and energy it must have taken to
bring this amount of unfamiliar yet impressive music to the studio.
A worthwhile project skilfully executed.
[more]
The review was published by MusicWeb International. * As it happens, another West Papua piece of mine, Papua Merdeka, was scheduled to be performed in Sydney tomorrow, but for various reasons this has been cancelled. I suspect that I might not have been able to go, for tomorrow the forecast temperature will be 40 deg C (that's 104 deg F), making it a day of high fire danger. * Wed Jan 16 2013: Canberra's all-female Seven Harp Ensemble (SHE) was recently in China for Beijing TV. Their gig there was part of Beijing TV's highly prestigious Spring Festival Global Gala, one of the most viewed TV events in China. They were also scheduled to perform at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), the premier concert venue in Beijing, showcasing not only SHE and their Western classical harps but also Chinese harpists performing on traditional instruments. On Tuesday Jan 8 SHE gave a preview in The Artists Shed, Queanbeyan, which was attended by Canberra Jazz blog, who wrote (excerpt):
[more]
On tour, SHE consisted of Ingrid Bauer, Alice Giles (leader), Genevieve Lang, Hilary Manning, Laura Tanata, Lucy O'Shea (replacing Liena Lacey) and Tegan Peemoeller. * Talking of things Chinese, one of our favourite WWOOFers, from June 2008, is the charming, beautiful and talented Frenchwoman Marine Dn. After leaving here she went to China, learnt to speak Mandarin, and has now established herself as a singer in China of, mostly, Chinese songs. There's a photo of her here singing on Chinese television. * The forecast for tomorrow is a warm 33 deg C. But we're expecting Friday to hit 40 deg C (104 deg F) and thus be a day of extreme fire danger. Our defences (a 75,000 litre tank full of water, a bushfire pump, sprinklers ready to soak the house and surrounds, bushfire hoses so we can extinguish stray embers, protective clothing, and so on) are as good as they can be, but I recognise that if the Big One comes our only effective defence will be to get the hell out before it hits. Recent cooler weather has allowed fire-fighters to contain the Deans Gap and Yass fires, but they are still burning and could again pose a threat if high temperatures combine with strong winds and low humidity. Fortunately for us they're a long way away from here, but I have friends in Yass for whom this is a tense time.
*
Sat Jan 12 2013:
At the top of the photo at right is a wild wood duck. Mum Edwina is
at left, with Dad Colin at right.
Click
for a larger view. Actually,
I'm assuming that Colin is the Dad. It's possible, I suppose, that our
other male duck, Stan,
a Muscovy, was responsible. We won't know for sure till the ducklings have
grown up a bit and revealed their parentage ... Meanwhile our six
chickens have almost grown up - we'll soon be able to tell the boys from the
girls.
*
Wed Jan 9 2013:
*
The photo at right is of a
Corymbia
ficifolia (West Australian
flowering gum, known also as Albany red flowering gum), that we planted
in memory of our old Mum, Sheila Wesley-Smith (1916-2010, at
far right). She lived with us in Kangaroo Valley for the last three
years of her life (for an account of her last six months, click
here).
Our tree has just started its spectacular floral display - click
on the photo to see a larger photo of the whole tree.
Apparently, Corymbia
ficifolia's flowers are usually red, as ours are, but
may be pink, crimson or orange. Their succulence, and their brilliant colour,
make the tree - our Sheila tree - very popular with various birds.
Climate change denial is almost a national pastime in Australia ...
[more]
I subscribe to a website called Australian Climate Madness, which regularly, and viciously, attacks those who believe that person-made greenhouse gas might, possibly, just possibly, have something to do with the extreme weather we're now seeing in Australia and which North Americans have experienced over the past year or so. It has been suspiciously silent on the big issues in recent times. Where are you, ACM, now that we need you more than ever? We need you to assure us that the current extreme weather events are simply part of the earth's natural volatility and that therefore it's perfectly OK to continue our wasteful ways. C'mon! According to CNN, "2012 is officially in the books as the hottest year on record for the continental United States and the second-worst for 'extreme' weather such as hurricanes, droughts or floods, the U.S. government announced Tuesday." See an article titled 'Sprawling Heat Wave Of Historical Proportions' Brings 'Horrendous' Wildfires To Australia by clicking here.
*
Tues Jan 8 2013:
Nearby council areas with a rating of catastrophic include
Goulburn, Kiama, Upper Lachlan, Mulwaree, Palerang, Queanbeyan,
Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Wingecarribee, Wollondilly, Wollongong & Yass Valley.
Those ratings have not changed overnight.
We have a sprinkler system designed to keep the house and surrounds saturated.
We use a petrol pump that we tested yesterday. We have about 70,000
litres of water reserved for fire-fighting. We've tightened pipe
connections. We're cleaning out gutters and getting rid of flammable
material near the house. But all this would be for naught when the Big One
comes. There is no effective defence against fires of the intensity of those
that devastated parts of Victoria three years ago other than sitting in a
concrete bunker, or in a creek, or a dam ...
10am: it's hot, muggy, windy - but not viciously so - and no sign, or smell, of smoke. We're watching things closely. No false heroics, but no un-necessary panic. 1pm: it's getting hotter and windier, but there's still no sign of a local fire. 8pm: after reaching c.42 deg C this afternoon, it's now slightly cooler, and the wind is less gusty than it was. Phew! Definitely a cool change - looks like we survived Australia's hottest day since records began. Tomorrow and Thursday it will be 25 deg, Friday 34, Saturday 33, Sunday 23 and Monday 23. Fire danger, however, will remain high. * Mon Jan 7 2013: The New South Wales Rural Fire Service issues daily fire danger ratings for particular areas of the state. Tomorrow, huge areas, including Kangaroo Valley, where Peter and I live, have been rated "catastrophic", with a temperature of 43 deg C (that's nearly 110 deg F), strong winds and low humidity. Their advice:
Leave bush fire prone areas the night before or early in
the day - do not just wait and see what happens.
Make a decision about when you will leave, where you
will go, how you will get there and when you will return.
Homes are not designed to withstand fires in catastrophic
conditions so you should leave early.
That's the official advice. Our plan is to see what conditions are like in the morning and to decide then what to do. I can't deny that it's a worry - but there are reasons to believe that we'll be relatively safe where we are. Time will tell! Watch this space ... * Wed Jan 2 2013: Kirsty Sword Gusmão, the wife of the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste, Xanana Gusmão, has sent the following message to her friends and supporters:
Kirsty was a courageous activist during the long years of the Indonesian occupation of Timor-Leste (1975-1999). Of great assistance to me when I was working on the radiophonic version of my piece Quito in the late 90s, she has made, since liberation, an enormous contribution to the development of her adopted country. I join the many thousands of people around the world who are sending her, and her family, their love and best wishes, especially for this coming Friday (the day of the operation). * Several prominent musicians and composers died during 2012. They included Hans Werner Henze, Elliott Carter, Jonathan Harvey, Dave Brubeck, Ravi Shankar and Richard Rodney Bennett.
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e-mail: mwsmith@shoalhaven.net.au
page last updated October 26 2014
