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The Composers' Series

Composers' Series, The - Volume 4 Piano Solos (Bourne)

By Una Bournne

Regular price $50.00 Sale

Una Bourne (1882-1974)

23 piano solos from 1897 (aged 5 years) to 1927 are represented in this collection and includes biographical notes about the composer, editorial and performance notes about each piano composition, the scores and a recording by Jeanell Carrigan of all works in the hard copy.

“The distinction of Miss Una Bourne’s playing seems to lie in the fact that the imagination and thought by which she has formed her musical conceptions is perfectly expressed in her technique.”

“As a pianist Una Bourne plays with her mind and her brain and her heart, as well as her fingers and is the most perfect concert artist to ever grace a concert platform”

The above quotes describing the wonderful musicianship and deft technique of Una Bourne are echoed in every account, suggesting that she certainly must have been an exceptional musician and pianist.

Unpublished piano solos also found in the archives include three more difficult works:
Valse Lente (unpublished)
Menuet (unpublished)
Papillons (unpublished)

Researched and edited by Jeanell Carrigan

Volume 4: Una Bourne

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ISMN 979072022705
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As part of 'The Composer's Series' many of these works have been recorded by Jeanell Carrigan on a CDs: Nostalgia (Wirr080) and  Reverie (Wirr 106)

Composers' Series, The - Volume 5 Piano Solos (Kahn)

By Esther Kahn

Regular price $55.00 Sale

Esther Kahn (1877-1962)

23 piano solos from 1894 to 1949 are represented in this collection and includes  biographical notes about the composer, editorial and performance notes about each work, the scores and a recording by Jeanell Carrigan of all works in the hard copy.

As one of the first music therapists in Australia, Esther Kahn’s music was very successful in the treatment of her patients and as music therapy was fundamentally important to her as a composer it is possible to understand why her compositions have been written in the style in which they exist. The piano works are very formally structured – mostly in a basic ternary form with some of the waltzes in rondo form. They stay within a tonal structure of tonic and dominant keys with the contrasting sections almost always in a dominant or relative major/minor key. The phrases are always of a symmetrical length – either two, four or eight bar structures. As Esther’s pieces were written to be played by a pianist of her, or her students’ technical standard, they are of a medium to challenging level of difficulty without pandering to pedagogical compromises.

Level of difficulty - intermediate to advanced


Researched, edited and recorded by Jeanell Carrigan

Volume 5: Esther Kahn

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Audio sakmples and YouTube links:

ISMN 9790720227405
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As part of 'The Composer's Series' many of these works have been recorded by Jeanell Carrigan on a CDs: Nostalgia (Wirr080);  Forest Magic (Wirr109)

Composers' Series, The - Volume 6 Piano Solos (Rofe)

By Esther Rofe

Regular price $50.00 Sale

Esther Rofe (1904 - 2000)

14 piano solos composed between 1927-1938

By all accounts Esther Rofe was a “character,” a “battler”. A prodigiously talented child she showed determination and resolve in all that she undertook. Rofe considered herself a narrative composer. She was inspired by the fact that her father had about two thousand books and she always was an avid reader.

Like many of her contemporaries Rofe studied composition and orchestration with Fritz Hart and A. E. Floyd. She had started writing music at about age seven, her first composition was written about a storm, though there was not much opportunity to study composition in Melbourne at that time for a child. Her teacher, Harold Smith, helped her with harmony and counterpoint and her mentor Alberto Zelman gave invaluable advice about orchestration and arranging. From approximately aged nineteen Rofe took private theory lessons from Dr A. E. Floyd organist and choirmaster at St Paul's Cathedral. When she was fourteen Rofe joined the second violins of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under direction of Alberto Zelman. Rofe had the opportunity to play with some great artists of her time as a member of the violin section, including Una Bourne, Dame Nellie Melba and Mischa Elman.

Level of difficulty:  mostly intermediate grades

More comprehensive biographical notes are within the volume which also includes a CD of all the works.

Researched, edited and recorded by Jeanell Carrigan

Volume 6: Esther Rofe

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ISMN 9790720227672
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As part of 'The Composer's Series' many of these works have been recorded by Jeanell Carrigan on a CDs: Nostalgia (Wirr080); Reverie (Wirr 106); Sea Impressions (Wirr108)

Composers' Series, The - Volume 7 Piano Solos (Phillips)

By Linda Phillips

Regular price $55.00 Sale

 Linda Phillips (1899 - 2002)

19 piano solos composed, mostly previously unpublished.

The piano music of Linda Phillips reflects her character. It is energetic, encouraging for the performer and full of charisma, with clear and strong melodic lines. Many works reflect her cultural heritage and, though mostly composed diatonically, exploit Hebrew scales and Middle Eastern flavours.

Linda Phillips describes herself as moderately modern and similar to Samuel Barber in that it has a "between the wars lyricism".

Level of difficulty:  advanced grades


More comprehensive biographical notes are within the volume which also includes a CD of all the works.

Researched, edited and recorded by Jeanell Carrigan

Volume 7: Linda Phillips

Download samples

Audio samples and and YouTube links

ISMN 9790720227641
$35.00 for instant PDF download Buy Now

 

As part of 'The Composer's Series' many of these works have been recorded by Jeanell Carrigan on a CDs: Nostalgia (Wirr080); Reverie (Wirr 106); Sea Impressions (Wirr108); Forest Magic (Wirr109)

Composers' Series, The - Volume 8(a) Piano Solos, Supplementary (Hutchens)

By Frank Hutchens

Regular price $15.00 Sale

Frank Hutchens (1892-1965)


This previously unpublished solo piano piece for advance grade was only recently discovered and is supplementary to The Composers' Series of Frank Hutchen's Volume 8(a) for advanced students. c.2'15.

Edited by Jeanell Carrigan

Volume 8: Frank Hutchens

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ISMN 9790673144477

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    As part of 'The Composer's Series' many of these works have been recorded by Jeanell Carrigan on a CDs:  Sea Impressions (Wirr108); Forest Magic (Wirr109)

    Composers' Series, The - Volume 8(a) Piano Solos (Hutchens)

    By Frank Hutchens

    Regular price $55.00 Sale

    Frank Hutchens (1892-1965)


    14 piano solos for advanced students, composed between early 1930s and 1960s.  The volume includes a CD of these works.

    Hutchens was an extraordinary teacher, who taught at the NSW Conservatorium for almost 50 years and his writing for the piano is always pianistic. These compositions for piano are quite extraordinary in that despite being based on very natural hand positions, and therefore very comfortable to play, they give the impression of being challenging works. This is the case even for the simpler pieces. His musical language could be described as impressionistic, occasionally late romantic, and he uses compositional elements found normally in the music of Impressionistic compositions: unsymmetrical phrases, whole tone scales, unresolved dissonances, and the harmony, while basically tonal explores chromaticism.

    This volume of piano solos is unique as until now there has been no collection of his works. Despite having written over fifty piano compositions they had been published as single items and no compilation had existed. This volume includes the more difficult and challenging works. Volume 8 (b) is designed to present works of approximately fifth to eight grade standard and Volume 8 (c) has elementary to grade five pieces.

    More comprehensive biographical notes are within the volume which also includes a CD of all the works.

    Researched, edited and recorded by Jeanell Carrigan

    Volume 8: Frank Hutchens

    Download:  samples of each piece; audio excepts; YouTube links

    Many works recorded on Sea Impressions (Wirr 108) and Forest Magic (Wirr 109) available online

       $35.00 PDF instant download Buy Now

       

      As part of 'The Composer's Series' many of these works have been recorded by Jeanell Carrigan on a CDs:  Sea Impressions (Wirr108); Forest Magic (Wirr109)

      Composers' Series, The - Volume 8(b) Piano Solos (Hutchens)

      By Frank Hutchens

      Regular price $55.00 Sale

      Frank Hutchens (1892-1965)

      17 piano solos for intermediate level (grades 5 to 8) , composed between early 1930s and 1950s. 

      This volume of piano solos is unique as until now there has been no collection of his works. Despite having written over fifty piano compositions they had been published as single items and no compilation had existed. In this volume Forest Magic, and the suite Dance of the Hours which has five short movements have not been previously published. The other pieces are those better-known works by Hutchens and are suitable for an approximate grade level of fifth to eighth grade. Indeed, many have been on the AMEB syllabus for those grades for many years.

      More comprehensive biographical notes are within the volume which also includes a CD of all the works.

      Researched, edited and recorded by Jeanell Carrigan

      Volume 8: Frank Hutchens

      Download:  samples of each piece; audio excepts; YouTube links

      Dance of the Hours

      Many works recorded on Sea Impressions (Wirr 108) and Forest Magic (Wirr 109) available online

      ISMN 9790720231112
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      Composers' Series, The - Volume 8(c) Piano Solos (Hutchens)

      By Frank Hutchens

      Regular price $55.00 Sale

      Frank Hutchens (1892-1965)

      37 piano solos for elementary level (preliminary to 5), composed between early 1930s and 1950s.  

      All the works in this volume are suitable for the grades preliminary to approximately grade five standard. They exploit different pedagogical aspects of piano playing including a variety of articulations, dynamics, and pedalling. In most cases pedalling is specified and if possible, in terms of the development the student, should be used.

      It is surprising how many of Hutchens’ works for piano are in a major key – predominantly G or D Major. As he was an extraordinary teacher, who taught at the NSW Conservatorium for almost 50 years - being one of the founders and first piano teachers, his music written for young and developing pianists is excellent pedagogical material. His language can be described as impressionistic rather than late romantic. He uses unsymmetrical phrases and the harmony, while basically tonal, explores chromaticism. He exploits both technical and musical aspects in terms of developing skills.

      More comprehensive biographical notes are within the volume which also includes a CD of all the works.

      Researched and edited by Jeanell Carrigan

      Volume 8: Frank Hutchens

      Download samples

      ISMN 9790720231129
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      Composers' Series, The - Volume 9 Piano Solos (Evans)

      By Lindley Evans

      Regular price $50.00 Sale

      Lindley Evans (1895-1982)

      16 piano solos, composed between  1927 and 1967.  The hard copy volume includes a CD of these works.

      Pianist, composer, conductor, organist, chorister, lecturer, and examiner Lindley Evans was the modern-day renaissance man who made a huge contribution to musical society in Australia during the twentieth century. Born in South Africa his family migrated to Australia when he was fifteen. He felt his own youth and inexperience was a disadvantage and so sought lessons to improve his expertise with Frank Hutchens at the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music. One thing led to another and Lindley was soon offered many more musical opportunities amongst them adjudicating various competitions, teaching a music appreciation class at the Presbyterian Ladies College in Croydon, conducting choirs as well as a great deal of accompaniment work. By 1921 Evans was a member of the piano staff at the NSW Conservatorium. 

      After a very successful recital with flautist John Lemmoné Evans was asked to accompany Dame Nellie Melba and so developed a strong partnership that lasted many years.

      His piano works are not numerous, and it appears that composition was just another activity that Evans was able to undertake with ease, having had no formal composition lessons.

      All of the works are very tonal, mostly in ternary form and Evans favours those keys in ‘flat ‘tonalities. (Db major being commonly used.) The works were mostly written in the 1930s and 40s with only two exceptions – Holidays in Australia, 1963, and Il Cielo Sereno, 1967.

      More comprehensive biographical notes are within the volume which also includes a CD of all the works.

      Researched, edited and recorded by Jeanell Carrigan

      Volume 9:  Lindley Evans

      Download samples of each piece


      ISMN 9790720231488
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      As part of 'The Composer's Series' many of these works have been recorded by Jeanell Carrigan on a CDs:  Sea Impressions (Wirr108); Forest Magic (Wirr109)

      Composing Against the Tide

      By Jeanell Carrigan

      Regular price $45.00 Sale

      Early twentieth century Australian women composers and their piano music.

      There were a relatively large number of women born in Australia between 1860 and 1915 who became composers of piano music. For many of them this was not an easy task. They did not always receive encouragement. Certainly many could not earn a living at this creative work and they battled not only the gender inequality that still largely exists today but also against musical fashion and trends that their works did not always reflect, as well as the backlash which came from being born into a ‘colonial’ country.  This is their story.

      Australian Heritage Collection - the piano works of these women have been published in three volumes as researched and edited by Jeanell. Each volume contains a CD of the works within. 

      A CD Nostalgia has been released with many of these works recorded by Jeanell.  It was featured as ABC Classic FM "CD of the week", November 2016. 

      All piano works available online - Australian Heritage Collection Volumes I, II, III


      ISBN 9781876829421

      Forest Magic - CD

      By Jeanell Carrigan

      Regular price $25.00 Sale


        Jeanell Carrigan (piano)

      Piano Miniatures by Australian Composers

      Lindley Evans, Frank Hutchens, Mirrie Solomon [Hill], Miriam Hyde, Roy Agnew, Alfred Hill, Hooper Brewster-Jones, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Josephine Bell, Iris de Cairos-Rego, Esther Kahn

      “Faintly shrouded by a gentle mist
      The trees within the wood resemble dreams.” (Franz Holford)

      In the early 1900s in Australia almost every home contained a piano. A sturdy upright with a metal frame taking pride of place in the parlour and providing hours of entertainment in the form of sing-alongs and musical evenings. Consequently, many songs and a great deal of piano music was composed which could be performed in the home environment, but also many works designed for the concert platform.
      On this themed recording there are examples of piano music written by composers who were all born in the nineteenth or very early twentieth century, who lived throughout that century writing music describing their impressions of the world around them. There are works about forests, leafy lanes, mists, and joyful rain. There is a cacophony of bird sounds and just as trees can resemble dreams this music creates dreams and visions.

      Cover photograph by Catherine McCorkill

      Wirr 109

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      [1]    Forest Magic (no date) – Frank Hutchens
      [2]    The Leafy Lanes of Kent (1950) – Mirrie Hill
      [3]    Dawn (no date) – Linda Phillips
      [4]    Woodland Sketch (1966) – Miriam Hyde
      [5]    Joyous Rain (1942) – Alfred Hill
      [6]    Murmuring Trees (1936) – Josephine Bell
      [7]    The Old Gum Tree (1963) – Lindley Evans
      [8]    The Elm Tree (1935) – Iris de Cairos-Rego
      [9]    Two Little Birds (1944) – Frank Hutchens
      [10]  Willow Wind (1973) – Mirrie Hill
      [11]  Butterflies (1958) – Linda Phillips
      [12]  Rabbit Hill (1928) – Roy Agnew
      [13]  Doves (1932) – Alfred Hill
      [14]  Midst Heather and Wattle (1949) – Esther Kahn
      [15]  Pastoral (1936) – Peggy Glanville-Hicks
      [16]  Flight (no date) – Linda Phillips
      [17]  Bell Birds (1963) – Lindley Evans
      [18]  Noon (1958) – Linda Phillips 
      [19]  Blackbird’s Song – Miriam Hyde
      [20]  Fragrance (1936) – Lindley Evans
      [21]  Wattle Bird in the Garden Hooper Brewster-Jones
      [22]  The Distant MagpieHooper Brewster-Jones
      [23]  The Peaceful Dove (1923-1926) Hooper Brewster-Jones 
      [24]  Hushed is my Garden (no date) – Linda Phillips
      [25]  Drifting Mists – Roy Agnew
      [26]  Return at Sunset (no date) – Linda Phillips 
      [27]  At the Setting of the Sun (1911) – Mirrie Hill
      [28]  Evening (1954) – Frank Hutchens                                            

      Sheet music and samples are available for many of these works visit:


      Lindley Evans
      Frank Hutchens
      Esther Kahn
      Hooper Brewster-Jones
      Linda Phillips
      Peggy Glanville-Hicks
      Mirrie Hill
      Josephine Bell
      Iris de Carios-Rego
      Roy Agnew
      Miriam Hyde

         

      Nostalgia CD

      By Jeanell Carrigan

      Regular price $25.00 Sale

      Jeanell Carrigan (piano)

      Alfred Hill, the Australian composer is reputed to have said “To me there are only two kinds of music - good or bad. All old music has at one time been modern and all modern music will one day become old so why worry? Time is a great critic that puts them in their place”. 
      The piano compositions on this recording have been deliberately chosen because of their beauty, their inherent musicality, the craft and skill of the composers and their appeal to the listener. Not considered in their selection was any decision based on whether the style was the fashion at the time of their composition. All of the composers on this recording are Australian women who were born between 1862 and 1915.
      To support this recording, Dr Jeanell Carrigan has researched and compiled three volumes of scores of these and additional piano works, most of which have not previously been published.  These volumes, together with individual CDs, are available online.

      Wirr 080

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      1   A Water Colour (Katherine Parker)
      2   The Watermill (Ester Kahn)
      3   The Lake (Dulcie Holland)
      4   Pastorale (Peggy Glanville Hicks)
      5   Country Dance (Iris de Cairos Rego)
      6   Prelude No. I (Florence Donaldson Ewart)
      7   Prelude No. II (Florence Donaldson Ewart)
      8   Prelude No. III (Florence Donaldson Ewart)
      9   Prelude (Phyllis Batchelor)
      10  Sarabande (Phyllis Batchelor)
      11  Dithyramb - a ballet (Margaret Sutherland)
      12  Ballerina (Miriam Hyde)
      13  Arc-e Ciel (Katherine Parker)
      14  The Ballerina (Marjorie Hesse)
      15  Gavotte (Mona McBurney
      16  Waltz in E (Iris de Cairos Rego)
      17  Echo de Vienne (Esther Rofe)
      18  Valse Gracieuse (Marjorie Hesse)
      19  Marche Grotesque (Una Bourne)
      20  Melody in Ab (Mary Bowden)
      21  Miniature Variations on a Theme in A minor (Esther Rofe)
      22  Ritsel (Meta Overman)
      23  Will o'the Wisp (Mirrie Hill)
      24  Prelude (Mirrie Hill)
      25  Fun (Mirrie Hill)
      26  Meditation (Nellie Cuddigan)
      27  Nocturne for Piano (Dulcie Holland)
      28 Nocturne (Katherine Parker)