Tuesday’s lunchtime concert in the RBA consisted of works by Cecilia Livingston chosen and performed by members of the COC’s Ensemble Studio. It was a fairly varied programme considering it was all works by one composer.

Quieen Hezumuryango and Mattia Senesi kicked things off with Give Me Your Hand which sets a Duncan McFarlane text exploring aspects of Lady Macbeth. It uses extended piano technique and suits the dark colours of Queen’s voice.  It was followed by Moon; an evocative solo piano piece played by Brian Cho.  Not the only time the moon would figure in the programme.

Two excerpts from Singing Only Softly followed.  This is based on the unexpurgated diaries of Anne Frank and it was great to hear some of it again expertly performed by Ariane Cossette and Alex Hetherington with Brian.  This was followed by more solo piano music; one of the Three Memories for Piano played by Mattia.

Wesley Harrison and Mattia gave us the first number from the cycle luna premit.  This sets a brief extract from book IV of The Aeneid adapted by Duncan McFarlane.  It’s wonderfully evocative calling up the moon as a metaphor for Dido’s desolation after being abandoned by Aeneas.  Terrific singing here too really bringing out the emotion in text and music.

Next came two arrangements of songs by Wade Hemsworth.  It’s interesting that they are usually described as “folksongs” though the title of Livingston’s work; Homesung: Four Songs, makes no such claim.  “My Mother is the Ocean Sea”; arranged or not, sounds far too much like a not very successful attempt to be profound.  The setting is fine though and it was nicely sung by Ariane.  “The Wild Goose” might have a better claim to being folky at least if we heed the words of Wilhelm Heinrich Riehl who wrote “No-one can write truly of the spirit of folklore who does not know how to recognize the spirit of the people in relation to work”[1].  And that’s what this song does brilliantly, setting work in the bush in the context of both the passing of the seasons and the relationship to the capitalist economy.  It’s also exuberant; not the most obvious quality in Livingston’s music, and Alex, with excellent support from Brian, used a folk like freedom of delivery to bring out its qualities.  Definitely a highlight.  It was followed by Mattioa with another really playful extract from the Three Memories.

“Pietà” from mark uses the very top of the baritone register to lovely effect and it was sung gorgeously through all the registers by Korin Thomas-Smith with Mattia in an arrangement for voice and piano.  To close things out we got Charlotte Siegel with Brian in the bluesy Parting.  This suited Charlotte’s voice really well and made a fitting conclusion to an interesting concert enhanced by the composer’s introductions to each piece.

fn1: Quoted in A.L. Lloyd Folk Song in England, New York 1967

Photo credits: Karen E. Reeves