In Memoriam

Roger Smalley AM (1943–2015) had a profound impact on the development of contemporary musical composition in Australia, and the initial inspiration for this project grew directly from his virtuosity both as a pianist and as a composer of visceral music for solo piano. A formidable pianist, Smalley had studied with Stockhausen, given British premiere performances of several of his Klavierstücke and, in the contemporary performance group Intermodulation, was the first to combine live-electronics with transcendental pianism to extend the sonic possibilities of the instrument. Smalley brought this deep immersion in the European experimental music scene with him to Perth along with his appetite to explore new technologies and instrumental timbres such as produced by the Australian made Stuart & Sons piano. This two-and-a-half-year long research project was born from a similar impulse to explore the unique artistic possibilities of this remarkably colourful and responsive instrument, and features the first recording of Smalley’s Three Studies in Black and White made on the Stuart & Sons piano. Developing on this inspiration, the trio of newly commissioned works in this recording from Lydia Gardiner, Rebecca Erin-Smith and Katherine Potter represent a process of creative collaboration between composer, performer and instrument. A synergy which stimulated the creation of a sonic experience unique to the time and place of its creation.