CARMICHAEL: Solo Flights

John Carmichael (1950-)

Solo Flight

Anthony Gray, piano

When John Carmichael's Sea Changes was released on ABC Classics in 2004, it created widespread interest in this major Australian composer. Based in London since the 1950s, the Melbourne-born septuagenarian's extraordinary gift for melody, together with his immense compositional craft, creates music of beguiling simplicity and immediate audience appeal.

Now, Carmichael's fellow-expatriate Australian, the pianist Antony Gray, has recorded his compatriot's piano music in a stunning CD that reveals the full range of Carmichael's poetic gifts. Entitled Solo Flights, it includes an astonishing array of moods and styles, from the 'Bravura Waltzes' at the opening, through homages to Liszt, de Falla, Poulenc, Faure and Ravel, and with the Gothic horror of 'From the Dark Side' contrasting with the buoyant rhythms of the 'Latin American Suite'.