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This fascinating disc pairs the first and fourth symphonies of Australian composer Ross Edwards. Separated by a decade, they demonstrate Edwards’ developing symphonic idiom and his consistency over time.
 
It would not be unfair to describe Edwards as Australia's holy minimalist. There is a kinship between his music and that of Arvo Pärt, despite differences of form and colouring. His mature works – both of these are symphonies belonging to that category – are characterised by lightness of touch, and a spirituality drawn in part from Christian mysticism. Hildegard von Bingen and William Blake are two influences named in passing in the booklet notes. He also draws in part on the natural world, understood and experienced mostly through the landscape of Australia. While his harmonic language is close to that of other Australian and American neo-Romantics, there is a reflectiveness and a sense of ritual in his music which is uniquely his.
 
The First Symphony is written as a single movement, a long sighing adagio that is Brucknerian in its nobility and yearning. A fragment of Gregorian chant, repeated and refracted, is at the symphony’s core. Edwards lays down a carpet of lush string sound, lit by smooth incantations from the horns and a gentle touches of tuned percussion. It builds to a broad brass chorale around the 11:46 mark, peaking again at around 18 minutes before fading away. It is a moving piece of music, deceptive in its simplicity.
 
The Fourth Symphony is cast in two movements, the first depicting the northern night sky and the second the southern night sky, as viewed from the Australian outback away from the pollution of city lights.
 
The northern night sky opens with mystery, with low strings growling a descending two note motif below the chanting chorus. The movement’s mood shifts to one of ecstatic ritual from about 10:45, with upper strings, brass and winds brightening before a twinkling of percussion. The southern night sky is generally upbeat with passages of Philip Glass rhythms and bright interjections from violins, before the chill of mystery returns and the music dies away. Throughout the piece, the choir chants the names of stars in various languages, supporting the sense of ritual at the core of Edwards’ work.
 
Edwards' fellow Australian composer, Richard Mills, leads the excellent Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in thoroughly prepared and deeply felt readings of both scores. A third Australian composer, Gordon Kerry, provides the detailed and eminently readable liner notes.
 
This is a first class production from ABC Classics that deserves to find a wide audience.
 
Tim Perry

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