The Sound

The Sound

By Chris Mineral

Yorta Yorta singer and composer Deborah Cheetham has composed a brilliant companion piece to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. 

Entitled Dutala, Star Filled Sky, it was performed as a prelude to the 9th Symphony at the dazzling launch to the 2020 Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) season. The 9th is one of Beethoven’s most popular works and Dutala plays upon many of its themes and motifs. The MSO replayed this concert in the virtual world on July 16. Circa Contemporary Circus acrobats performed to the 9th in front of the Orchestra and, while on stage, Deborah Cheetham was front row second from left in the chorus. It made for compelling classical entertainment with edge. 

The MSO will have a virtual concert on its website on July 30 of the Rimsky-Korsakov piece Scheherazade. This concert features Peruvian conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya and the brilliant cello player from Finland Timo Veikko-Valve, a name suitable for a career in Formula 1. Veikko-Valve plays in the Australian Classical Chamber Orchestra. Scheherazade was written in 1888, two years before Carbone won the Melbourne Cup. Scheherazade is the beautiful, beguiling woman telling stories from the Thousand and One Nights.

Morricone exits cinema left. Versatile, prolific and talented film composer Ennio Morricone was a massive influence on Melbourne musicians such as Penny Ikinger and Rowland S Howard. His magnum Opus it could be argued was his operatic soundtrack to the ultimate spaghetti western Once upon a Time in the West. Penny Ikinger wrote a tribute to Morricone, stating that the eclectic instrumentation that could be found on her spellbinding rock creation Tokyo was inspired by Ennio Morricone. On Tokyo, Ikinger said that she played around with Morricone’s idea to combine unusual instruments together.

Ikinger received a stellar review from Global Texan Chronicles for Tokyo. Tokyo City sounds like a Desert Sessions song.

“In the city when the sun goes down, electric lights on the avenue, shine so bright for me”; Jim Morrison-esque. There’s a real exotic jungle edge at the North Pacific here.

There’s shakuhachi, flute, strange eerie percussion sounds throughout Tokyo. Wind instruments combined with Ikinger’s feedback infused ethereal overdriven reverbed guitar. Ikinger has always had a totality of sound and song.

Gold Rush starts with Chris Wilson-esque harmonica playing along with David Bridie in the orchestration. Gin No Suzu is pure poetics, a song Brewster could have written for The Angels. Doc Neeson’s delivery in the vocal department, with lead guitar like Ian Moss or Martin Rotsey from Midnight Oil. The mixing and engineering on Tokyo is brilliant, swelling, surging, ebbing and dramatic. Ten outta Ten!

Morricone was featured on a special edition of Paul Harris’ Film Buffs Forecast podcast. Recorded at Studio 9 at Sun Theatre, Yarraville, it is a great discussion about his music, and they mention his interesting autobiography. At the end of the tribute to Morricone they play a song from the 1974 film My Name Is Nobody, that features Henry Fonda. Music is always a feature of this show. Keep listening to Film Buffs Forecast, it is a five-star podcast.

The Sound, Sundays at 5:30 in the afternoon on ABC Television will be a Rock Music show with the Ringmaster being Jane Gazzo and it has a real buzz to it. Many musos, Mark Seymour included, are looking forward to it. The sound on the shoulders of Countdown •

Since Labor has been in power …

Since Labor has been in power …

March 20th, 2024 - Evan Mulholland
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