EDWARDS: Maninyas - Symphony No. 1

Ross Edwards (1943-)

Maninyas - Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
Symphony No. 1 'Da Pacem Domine'
Yarrageh - Nocturne for Solo Percussion and Orchestra

Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Dene Olding, violin
Ian Cleworth, percussion
Stuart Challender, director (Maninyas)
David Porcelijn, director (Symphony No. 1, Yarrageh)

One of Australia's most distinguished composers, Ross Edwards lives and works in Sydney. For nearly three decades his commitment to the ideal of music as a positive and regenerative force has led him to explore beyond the confines of Western Art Music. Edwards' distinctive sound-world fuses shapes and patterns from nature with a variety of musical resources which reflect and celebrate Australia's cultural diversity. In his Maninya (dance-chant) pieces, Edwards has pursued an ideal of wholeness - a reintegration of mind, body and spirit and a restoration to 'serious' music of such qualities as lightness, spontaneity and the impulse to dance. Naturally these works have attracted choreography, notably Stanton Welch's ballet Maninyas for the San Francisco Ballet, The Houston Ballet and the Singapore Dance Company, as well as Chrissie Parrott's interpretation for the West Australian Ballet.

Works such as Yarrageh - Nocturne for Percussion and Orchestra and The Heart of Night reflect Edwards' strong belief in the therapeutic power of music. These works, which have been described as 'contemplation objects in sound', are characterised by a timeless austerity much influenced by birdsong and the mysterious polyphony of the insect chorus in the Australian bush.

Edwards is perhaps best known for his orchestral music. These include four symphonies and concertos for piano, violin (Maninyas), guitar and oboe. ABC Classics has released the first recording of his Symphony No. 3 performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and White Ghost Dancing, a CD from the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra with conductor Richard Mills that includes the premier recording of his Guitar Concerto with soloist Karin Schaupp. Also just released on ABC Classics is the first recording of Edwards' Oboe Concerto in which Diana Doherty is soloist with the MSO.