Gordon Hamilton & The Australian Voices - Reverie (2016)

Reverie is a collection of twelve works that bring together themes both banal and transcendent, juxtaposing music that is by turns deeply lyrical and ecstatically ludicrous. A highlight of the album is a setting by the group’s conductor, Gordon Hamilton, of the Elegy – In memoriam Rupert Brooke, written by Australian soldier Frederick Septimus Kelly on the battlefields of Gallipoli and set here to words by Kelly’s close friend Rupert Brooke.

Total Political Correctness fast-forwards to politics of the 21st century, presenting Donald Trump’s statements on women set to music by Robert Davidson – which sits alongside Not Now, Not Ever!, a setting of then Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s Misogny Speech – a parliamentary condemnation of sexism.

The absurd becomes even more literal than Trump himself in Isabella Gerometta’s Words That Turn Into Other Words – a list of words and phrases linked by sound alone. But pure sound is also pure beauty, and in the album’s title track, the choir take on the tradition of konnakol – a South Indian art of singing single syllables.

Jazz trumpeter James Morrison is the first of two guest artists, in his own composition Underwater Basket Weaving; percussionist Claire Edwardes features in Graham Lack’s titular A Reverie of Bone.

Reverie is a deeply engrossing journey through a kaleidoscope of contemporary culture, politics and sensibility; it’s also a celebration of the humour, nuance and sheer beauty of the human voice.

About The Australian Voices
Founded in 1993, The Australian Voices is dedicated to championing new Australian vocal music. The ensemble tours internationally every year, and is also known to millions across the globe through its programme of new works intended specifically for performance on YouTube. The group’s self-titled debut album was received extensive critical praise, and Edition Peters has released a songbook featuring some of the group’s best-loved repertoire. Gordon Hamilton – a leading light in the new generation of composers and conductors – was appointed Artistic Director in 2009.

Tracklist:
01. Misra Chappu - Gordon Hamilton and Lisa Young and The Australian Voices
02. Dark Hour - Gordon Hamilton and The Australian Voices
03. Elegy - In Memoriam Rupert Brooke - Gordon Hamilton and The Australian Voices
04. Waltzing Matilda - Gordon Hamilton and The Australian Voices
05. Yuè ér ming - Charles Hacker and Gordon Hamilton and The Australian Voices
06. A Reverie Of Bone (Live) - Claire Edwardes and Gordon Hamilton and The Australian Voices
07. O Attic Shape - Gordon Hamilton and The Australian Voices
08. Words That Turn Into Other Words - Gordon Hamilton and The Australian Voices
09. Who Are We? - Gordon Hamilton and The Australian Voices
10. Total Political Correctness - Gordon Hamilton and The Australian Voices
11. Not Now, Now Ever! - Gordon Hamilton and The Australian Voices
12. Underwater Basket Weaving (Live) - Claire Edwardes and Dominic Hefferan and Gordon Hamilton and James Morrison and The Australian Voices