"DANGEROUS BY MOONLIGHT” JADCD 1102 Works by Roy Agnew, Robert Allworth, Eric gross, Ann Carr-Boyd, Ray Lemond, Derek Strahan . Duration: 44'53” This CD presents a selection of works by Australian composers which is remarkably homogenous considering that the dates of composition range from 1927 to 2004. Though not all compositions were written under nocturnal influences, many of them maintain the crepuscular mood set by the title piece, Allworth's “Dangerous Moonlight” for solo piano, performed with conspiratorial understanding by Ray Lemond, who maintains melodic mysteries within the work's evocative harmonies. Lemond's own piece, “Midnight” takes pianism into the further reaches of the unfathomable. There is even an Allworth piece for mandolins titled “Twilight”, performed by the Sydney Mandolins who also give a sympathetic reading of “Epilogue for Stephen” Op.274 (2004) by Gross, who has written many fine pieces for this ensemble. Here he applies modernistic subtleties to this elegy on the premature passing of a young postgraduate scientist, who also maintained a love of music. Differing music styles for solo piano retain a reflective mood in Allworth's “Minnesota Dreaming”, Agnew's “An Autumn Morning” Gross's “Rondino Tranquillo” and Carr-Boyd's “A Day In Taralga”. Three pieces provide contrasting vigour. “Klavierstuck II Op.127” by Gross is a work for solo piano of sustained invention of around 8 minutes' duration. Its material stems from “different thematic and rhythmic cells so as to provide an overall improvisatory effect”. Virtuoso pianist Simon Docking achieves an idiomatic and idiosyncratic performance. The CD closes with two short instrument duos written by Strahan in 1963, heard here in Midi Realisations. “Population Pressure” for Flute/Piccolo and guitar provides a musical metaphor for a “birth clock” whose relentless digital count “numbers each addition to our planet's population". “Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted” for clarinet and piano, is an exercise in perpetual motion, suggested by the surf at Bondi Beach – the title being the legend on a battered sign posted outside the crumbling apartment block where he then lived. 1. ROBERT ALLWORTH - "MINNESOTA DREAMING" (1993) 2'47". Ann Carr-Boyd - Piano 2. ROBERT ALLWORTH - "TWILIGHT" (1995) 2'43". The Sydney Mandolins: Adrian Hooper & Paul Hooper - Mandolins; Joyce Bootsma - Mandola; Barbara Hooper- Guitar; Michael Hooper - Bass Guitar. Directed by Adrian Hooper 3. ROBERT ALLWORTH - "DANGEROUS BY MOONLIGHT" (1993) 9'16". Ray Lemond - Piano 4. ROY AGNEW - "AN AUTUMN MORNING" (1927) 2) 5'33". Ray Lemond - Piano 5. RAY LEMOND - “MIDNIGHT” (1993) 2'53". Ray Lemond - Piano 6. ERIC GROSS - “KLAVIERSTUCK II” Op.127 (1982) 7'37". Simon Docking- Piano 7. ERIC GROSS - "RONDINO TRANQUlLLO" Op. 34 (1962) 4'15". Ray Lemond - Piano 8. ANN CARR-BOYD - "A DAY IN TARALGA (2003) 3'09". Ann Carr-Boyd - Piano 9. ERIC GROSS - "EPILOGUE FOR STEPHEN" 0p.274 (2004) 5'28". The Sydney Mandolins: Personnel as Track 2. 10. DEREK STRAHAN - "POPULATlON PRESSURE" for Flute/Piccolo & Guitar (1963) 2'37". Midi Realisation - Derek Strahan 11. DEREK: STRAHAN - "TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED" (1963) for Clarinet & Piano 1'47" Midi Realisation - Derek Strahan