Newsflash!

CD Release: Bird Spirit Dreaming

This new Da Vinci Classics CD features Australian works for soprano sax and piano, performed by HD Duo (Michael Duke & David Howie). Alongside my piece “Cloud Nine”, you’ll hear music by Sculthorpe, Edwards, Broadstock, Chan and Hindson. Grab your copy of the CD today!

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Reviews

CD: Bird Spirit Dreaming featuring HD Duo

“… The album ends with a flourish. Matthew Orlovich’s Cloud Nine in three movements, titled Joyful, Dark and Stormy and Playful, leaves me upbeat with its sunny rhythms reminiscent of a jazzy, jaunty cakewalk.” – Reviewed by Shamistha de Soysa for SoundsLikeSydney.

“…Mathew Orlovich’s Cloud Nine opens with a movement entitled ‘Joyous’ – and with its invigorating energy reminiscent of some of Michale Torke’s livelier works, it is just that. ‘Dark and Stormy’ is more dark than stormy and the clarinet’s klezmer- incected scales create a turbulent landscape. There is some very clever use of the piano’s resonance in sustaining a background that is only just audible. The work ends with ‘Playful’, another high-energy movement which in its short duration manages to recap and play with material form the opening movement. The whole work, with its rapidly changing rhythms and registers, sounds fiendishly difficult to play but of course the seasoned HD Duo bring it off to perfection.” – Reviewed by Paul RW Jackson for MusicWeb International. (May 23, 2024).

Composer’s Note

Cloud Nine (for soprano saxophone, piano and electronic bow) was commissioned in 2021 by HD Duo (Michael Duke, saxophone; David Howie, piano) with the financial support of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney.

In keeping with the title of the work, the first movement (Joyful; dotted crotchet = c. 80) is euphoric in mood, commencing with a buoyant theme that recurs between moments of exuberant bebop-esque music, gleeful chordal displays, scalar runs and passages comprising piquant effects and ornamentations.

The second movement (Dark and stormy; quaver = c. 60) – a meditation on the awe-inspiring grandeur of a cumulonimbus cloud – is a nod to The International Cloud Atlas (1896) and its more literal use of the work’s title. Offering a moment of repose, the movement begins with the sound of distant thunder and features a slowly unfurling melody accompanied by the hum of an electromagnetically-excited B-flat piano string.

The third and final movement (Playful; crotchet = c. 120) begins with some cheeky, high-spirited interplay between the saxophone and piano. There ensues a short recapitulation of music from the first movement, culminating in a resolute coda.

I thank HD Duo for commissioning Cloud Nine and gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney.

Dr Matthew Orlovich
Composer.

Some of the Known Performances

FRIDAY 23 FEBRUARY 2024

“Fine Music Breakfast” with Stephen Gard @ 2MBS-FM Fine Music.
Featuring music from the CD of the Week “Bird Spirit Dreaming” (HD Duo – Michael Duke, soprano saxophone; David Howie, piano) released on the Da Vinci Classics label.

WEDNESDAY 7 SEPTEMBER, 2022 (7PM)

Pictured: HD Duo (David Howie & Michael Duke).

Concert:
Gems Old and New – Music for saxophone and piano

Hear Matthew Orlovich’s “Cloud Nine” for soprano sax, piano and electronic bow, plus works by Clara Schumann, Sally Greenaway, Lili Boulanger, Gabriel Faure, Brenton Broadstock and Lyle Chan.

Performers: Michael Duke and Jay Byrnes (saxophonists) and David Howie and Lindsay Gilroy (pianists).
Venue: Recital Hall East, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Tickets: Free with online registration.