An Unusual Concert

I'm getting a little behind in my posts and reporting a concert Dot and I attended a week ago. It was the last in the prestigious Musica Viva concerts for 2014 and involved a group called The Australian Voices. They are a choral ensemble of 19 singers, roughly balanced between Sopranos, Altos, Tenors and Basses, and a live-wire conductor / composer. The individual performers were all young - in their 20s and 30s - and all were excellent in timbre and timing. No wonder the New York Times described them "as if the gates of heaven had opened". Moreover, a professor of choral conducting in Munich said "this ensemble is captivating: breathtaking homogeny, perfect intonation, spectacular virtuosity". And they're performing in little old Armidale? They've performed in many different countries and won awards for their skills.

So what did they sing? Well, the programme was amazing and very modern for the most-part. Over half the works dated from the 20th and 21st centuries and rejoiced in some bizarre names: Unrepresentative Swill (sayings by Australian parliamentarians - including two Prime Ministers!); Love is Space and Time; Underwater Bask-Weaving; Who are We?; Bookmoth; Dark Doves; and so on. And one work, "Heyr, himna smithur" was written in the 21st century by the well-known Icelandic composer Thorkell Sigurbjornsson. However, his words were penned in 1208 - i.e. 8 centuries ago! That was beaten in time by Heldegarde von Bingen's "O ignee Spiritus" written in 1179. See what I mean? The program was excitingly original to match an excitingly original ensemble. I salute the organisers!

And here they are:

AS