Bird Spirit Dreaming: Australian Music For Soprano Saxophone And Piano – HD Duo

This Da Vinci Classics CD, funded by The Sydney Conservatorium of Music, The University of Sydney, includes contemporary Australian works for sax and piano, at times joined by cello, violin and percussion. The pieces are written by Brenton Broadstock, Lyle Chan, Ross Edwards, Matthew Hindson, Matthew Orlovich, and Peter Sculthorpe. All of them are world premiere recordings; some are adaptations of music originally for oboe made by the composers themselves (Edwards, Hindson, Broadstock), and two (Chan and Orlovich) were specifically commissioned by the HD Duo (Michael Duke, Saxophone, and David Howie, Piano). Many of these composers are intensely engaged with social, ecological, and political issues, and their involvement is clearly revealed by their works; in some cases, the combination of personal engagement and artistic creation earned the composers some of the highest awards and recognitions assigned to artists and personalities in Australia.