CONTRA
SCHUBERT

Nocturnal art song in exotic settings.

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In an evocative hour of up-close, exotic art-song, cumulatively these compositions and their texts draw on evocative elements of nature and night to reconcile with raw emotion. Aromatic, sensual, mysterious and existential adventures are depicted in highly programmatic, sensitive music by Schubert, Sculthorpe and Ravel. 

Often their music is delicate, with fragile, transparent textures regaling cool, moonlit scenes. Their songs depict nocturnal birds, dried flowers and sweet-smelling herbs. Beneath the moon and a sky full of stars, swirling seas and cool evening winds set the scene for hymns, ceremonies and erotic rendezvous. At their climax however, dramatic and expressive peaks remind us of the power of nature, as we are humbled by the monumental grandeur of towering mountains and vast cosmic planes.

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Franz Schubert

Variations on ‘Trockne Blumen’ for Piano and Flute D 802

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Peter Sculthorpe

The Stars Turn

Night Pieces

Mountains

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Maurice Ravel

Deux Mélodies Hébraïques (Two Hebrew Melodies)

Chansons Madécasses (Madagascan Songs)

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Shikara Ringdahl, mezzo-soprano

Jonathan Henderson, flute

Hyung Suk Bae, cello

Vatche Jambazian, piano

Curated by Jonathan Henderson

Presented in association with Southern Cross Soloists

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