Hamish McKeich, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra - Andrew Schultz: Century (2018)

The latest release in the Australian Composer Series features orchestral works by Andrew Schultz: his Symphony No. 3 Century, as well as the works Peace and August Offensive.

Centurywas commissioned for the celebrations surrounding the centenary of Australia’s national capital, Canberra, in March 2013, and premiered in front of an audience of 150,000 people. Chris Wallace of the Canberra Times wrote, “Century is excellent. It is epic. It is powerful and beautiful.” The work speaks to the fascinating history of our purpose built ‘bush capital’, and the struggle between idealism and practicality that was inherent in its construction. It sounds instantly Australian, celebrating the abundance of our natural environment while also warning of its intensity and brutality.

Peace was written in 2013 for the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and takes its name from one of JMW Turner’s best-known paintings, Peace – Burial at Sea (1842). This is not a peace of tranquillity, however – rather the uneasy peace that forms after a period of violence and conflict. August Offensive, by contrast, is a very fast, virtuosic and violent work which was premiered at the ANZAC Day dawn service at Gallipoli on 25 April 2013. Commissioned for the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign by the Australian Department of Veterans’ Affairs, it commemorates the horrendous battles in August 1915 which saw some of the most deadly fighting of the entire campaign.



Tracks:

Symphony No. 3 ‘Century’, Op. 91

01. I. Struggle
02. II. Dream
03. III. Create
04. Peace, Op. 93
05. August Offensive, Op. 92

Personnel:

Composed By – Andrew Schultz
Conductor – Hamish McKeich
Orchestra – Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra