Pacific Rim

A fascinating cd of music by Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe. I was going to title the entry Ozzie Rules but realised that Sculthorpe's interests rang wider than Australia itself and take in much more of the whole Pacific rim. For a start, he was born in Tasmania which while being politically a region of Australia retains a distinct island identity. The music is very melodic and programmatic, often conjuring up vivid images. The cd is performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Judd, with soloists Tamara Anna Cislowska in the piano concerto and William Barton on didgeridoo in the title piece Earth Cry. The virtuosic didgeridoo playing is far removed from that of Rolf Harris and the whole piece reflects the outback and the fierce aboriginal connection to the land, as does another piece on the disk, Kakadu. Environmental concerns seem pertinent here also. The piano concerto is one continuous work and has elements of Balinese gamelan music and the other two pieces further reflect the wider Pacific rim with From Oceania taking ideas from Japanese percussion and Memento Mori a lush orchestral soundscape reflecting on the fate of the native inhabitants of the isolated Easter Island.