The Narrow Road to Oku
for cello and piano
Composed for Jack Overall
"I have come to cherish the musical commissions that have come my way. Writing music for people one knows, or comes to know, can be quite an intimate thing; a bond often comes with it, and I like that. There is nothing better in this world than music, and sharing it with younger colleagues who feel the same way is a privilege. Getting to do that while dreaming up the notes into the bargain is as good as it gets. So thank you ANAM!" – Ian Munro (2024)
Commissioned by the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) as part The ANAM Set 2025 and written for Jack Overall, with its world premiere during ANAM’s 2025 recital season at the Abbotsford Convent, Melbourne.
This ANAM Set commission was generously supported by the Anthony and Sharon Lee Foundation
Program note:
In this evocation of Matsuo Bashō's epic haiku travel diary, the part of Bashō is portrayed by the 'cellist and the part of his travelling companion Sora is portrayed by the pianist. The exact placement and timing of the texts are left to the disgression of the performers but I have indicated roughly where I imagine they would align best.
Although the music is written with the audibility of the text in mind at all times, it may be necessary to assist the performers with discreet amplification.
About the composer:
Born in Melbourne and educated at the VCA, Ian was taught the piano by Roy Shepherd, a pupil of Alfred Cortot. After studies in Vienna and London, he won a number of prizes in international competitions (Barcelona, Lisbon, Busoni, Leeds), leading to solo and concerto performances across Europe, the USA and Asia, and recordings for the BBC, Hyperion, Naxos, ABC Classics and Tall Poppies. For over twenty years he was a member of the acclaimed Australia Ensemble in Sydney.
Ian returned to composing in 2000. His first major work 'Dreams' (2002) was awarded Premier Grand Prix at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. Since joining the Australia Ensemble, many of his works have been written for chamber ensembles, and have been performed by a wide variety of soloists and groups, including the Australian Chamber Orchestra, clarinettist Sabine Meyer, l'Orchestre National de Belgique, Brentano, Goldner and Modigliani string quartets and the St Petersburg Symphony. Recent commissions include a flute concerto for the Melbourne and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, a song cycle for soprano Sara MacLiver and a two-piano sonata for the piano duo Kiazma.
Ian's works may be found at the Australian Music Centre.