#3697: Australian Music

Listen to music from Australia on this New Sounds show, with everything from didjeridu to a gamelan-influenced work, and a suite from a ballet score. Hear the driving rhythms and expansive harmonies of post-rock and minimalism in “Practical Mechanics,” a five-movement work by composer Chris Perren for his Nonsemble. Nonsemble is the Brisbane, Australia-based new music group which considers itself a link between the conservatory and the underground. The work “Practical Mechanics” is "an ode to technological optimism, and playfully explores the belief that science can solve all human problems" (Nonsemble's Bandcamp.) It is scored for junk percussion, a sampler, a piano and a string quartet and takes its titles and text from vintage 1933-63 issues of the DIY British science and technology publication where one could learn how to build a Geiger counter at home and other practical science applications.

Also, there’s music from Australia’s first minimalist composer Robert Lloyd and music by the late composer Peter Sculthorpe, who made it his mission to incorporate aboriginal themes and sounds of the Outback into his music. Then, hear music by saxophonist John Babbage, who is a member of one of Australia's leading new music ensembles, Topology. Plus, ballet music from Elena Kats Chernin, and didjeridu music from David Hudson.

PROGRAM #3697– Music from Australia (First aired on 02/18/2015)