A Storm
for solo piano
Composed for Matthew Garvie
World premiere performance: 18 September 2024
Performed as part of ANAM 2024 Recitals
Matthew Garvie (piano)
Commissioned by the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) as part The ANAM Set 2024 and written for Matthew Garvie, with its world premiere during ANAM’s 2024 recital season at the Abbotsford Convent, Melbourne.
The ANAM Set 2024 has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body and generously supported by the Anthony and Sharon Lee Foundation.
The ANAM Set 2024 was recorded in the Primrose Potter Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre by ABC Classic - Duncan Yardley, Producer and Russell Thomson, Audio Engineer.
Program note:
Be it a storm of nature, of the mind, of war; it is up to you, the listener as to what you hear and feel. I tried to depict the overwhelming power of a storm, and the sense of entrapment I imagine one might feel or experience when one is at the centre of it. I wrote the movement based on Sonata form, whilst deviating somewhat from its traditional structure. There is quite a long introduction in which I present the germination of the first and second themes, and I present the second theme in its entirety prior to the presentation of the first, ‘central’ theme in the Exposition. The Development climaxes in the form of a quirky waltz prior to the Recapitulation, and the Coda is extreme in its expression. Expression of what, is up to you.
About the composer:
Justin Williams (he/him) holds the position of Assistant Principal Viola with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and is the founding violist of the Tinalley String Quartet (TSQ). Justin has performed as Principal Viola with Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO), Australian World Orchestra, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra (AOBO), Melbourne Chamber Orchestra and Australian ProArte.
As a member of Tinalley String Quartet, Justin shared in the experience of winning the 2005 Australian Chamber Music Competition and the 9th Banff International String Quartet Competition. With TSQ, he has toured extensively throughout Australia, Europe, and North America, and has released several recordings with Decca Australia, ABC Classic and Move Records.
As a composer, Justin released his ‘Movement for String Quartet’ in 2020, which has since been performed throughout Australia and in Europe by the Australian String Quartet. In 2022, Justin was the recipient of a Sydney International Piano Competition Composing the Future juror’s prize for his Three Intermezzi for solo piano, premiered by Daniel de Borah. In 2023, his set of songs Three Pieces for String Quartet and Voice: Love – Despair – Hope was commissioned and premiered at Blackheath Chamber Music Festival. His First Symphony, jointly commissioned by QSO and SSO, was premiered by QSO under the direction of Maestro Umberto Clerici as part of the Brisbane Festival 2023.
For more about Justin, visit his website: jspw.com.au