David Miller, Wendy Dixon, Linda Foulsham

Wollongong: Wirripang Publications 2007

ISBN 978176829117 114pp with CD

Reviewed by Stephen Grant

We should be delighted with the appearance of this next volume of Australian songs from Wirripang. Compiled by pianist David Miller, singer Wendy Dixon and Linda Foulsham, who provided the poetic commentary, this is a most welcome volume for anyone interested in getting an impression of the rich variety of Australian song over the last hundred years.

As an educator and performer, I would say that it is terribly exciting to come across a volume like this one. There is just the right amount of detail for each song, the writers providing three brief analyses – for the text, the voice part and the accompaniment. A short composer biography rounds off the material for each piece. Not only does their work make both better and lesser-known composers’ works more accessible, it gives young musicians a wonderful template for the study of song repertoire in general. Both keyboard and vocal parts are rated according to difficulty – range and tessitura are noted for each piece. 

The analyses themselves are varied and interesting, pointing out features of particular musical or textual interest. The authors also touch on some of the technical challenges met in the repertoire. The technical comments are concise and straightforward and could prove very helpful for anyone with an interest in discovering more about the wealth of repertoire available. Great care has been taken both in the selection and presentation of these works.

Along with names already very familiar to Australian singers – Margaret Sutherland and Gordon Kerry, for instance, appear works by others not yet so well known – Andrew Schultz, Stuart Greenbaum and Trevor Pearce, among others.

My own favourite discoveries in this volume were a set of songs based on Emily Dickinson’s Frogs poems by Nigel Butterley, which could be interestingly performed alongside settings of the same poet by Australian David Horowicz. Andrew Schultz’s I am Black is a strikingly beautiful work. There are many more which invite investigation and I would hope this volume could go a long way to ensuring a broader public and longer life for these works.

Also contained in this volume is a CD with performances of the songs, using both a male and a female voice and a MIDI backing track. I’m not that much of a fan of the MIDI backing track concept, as it does seem to perpetuate the (unfortunate) reliance that young singers can have on anything recorded. Still, it must be admitted that it does makes the music much more accessible, and a wider audience for song repertoire is something to be hoped for. A wider audience for quality contemporary Australian song is definitely something to be celebrated.