Tall Poppies
TP200
Chamber music by Martin Wesley-Smith
Australia Ensemble
Timothy Constable (percussion)
A winning combination of Australia's best chamber ensemble and one of Australia's most appealing composers, Martin Wesley-Smith. His music comes from many concerns - political (especially East Timor and Afghanistan), literary (his fascination with Lewis Carroll) and personal (two of the pieces are dedicated to old friends - Don Banks and Prof Peter Platt). The music is tuneful, quirky, virtuosic for the players and always appealing for the listener. Snark-Hunting is one of the great pieces in Wesley-Smith's oeuvre, and in this new recording the piece shines. Timothy Constable is one of the current generation of hot young percussionists in Australia, and he gives a terrific performance in this piece.
The Australia Ensemble has been performing Wesley-Smith's music for many years, and it is with enormous pleasure that Tall Poppies has recorded and released this, the first ever CD devoted to his chamber music.
The recording was funded by the Australia Council.