This is a fascinating collection—a composer's source-book and an introduction to one of the leading personalities in Australian music. A year or two ago I heard Malcolm Troup play Sculthorpe's Piano Concerto (1983) at St John's, Smith Square in London and was impressed by its distinctly Australian sound-world. That quality may be hard to define, but this record of works ranging from the late 1950s onwards is a helpful indicator and an enjoyable sequence too. The recording, some of which dates from 1976, is not always as polished as it might be, but this hardly detracts from such a varied offering.
The simplest Sculthorpe comes in the Four Little Pieces for piano duet at the beginning: solo versions of two of them, played by the composer come at the end. The Left Bank waltz is a charming C major tune which might have been written by Georges Auric. The early Sonatina (1954) shows Sculthorpe's penchant for subjects related to Australia's landscape or history. The work's programme is an Aboriginal legend and later on pieces like Djilile use Aboriginal melodies. All the same, the Sonatina shows some similarities with Bartok in its quick rhythmic repetitions and in the spare slow movement. But Sculthorpe's absorption of all his sources is anything but superficial.
Callabonna is an impressively atmospheric piece taken from an unfinished sonata and later used as the basis of the first movement of Sculthorpe's String Quartet No. 6. ''Night'', now one of four Night Pieces, comes from Sun Music I and Nocturnal is taken from the Piano Concerto. The Night Pieces, published by Faber Music in London, are not difficult to play: they have some similarities in mood and are distinctly oriental in approach. No notes are wasted and everything is concise—so rare and refreshing! The Japanese connection is emphasized in the two Koto pieces. These use sounds from the inside of the piano, both live and on tape playback. They seem more successful structurally than the much longer Landscape which also uses tape playback with elements of improvisation.
In complete contrast are the Rose Bay Quadrilles, composed by William Stanley in Australia for the laying of the foundation stone of Woollahra House back in 1856. What Gudrun Beilharz plays is Sculthorpe's performing edition of these enchanting quadrilles. Michael Hannan is equally effective in the works involving the inside of the piano and he has also written a study of the composer (Peter Sculthorpe: his Music and Ideas 1929-1979; University of Queensland Press: 1982). This whole record provides an admirable opportunity to explore Sculthorpe and his Australian sources in greater detail, whetting the appetite for more of the larger works on disc.'