Prelude for viola and piano
for viola & piano
Composed for Dasher Auer
First performance: 14 May 2022
Performed at the ANAM Set Festival by
Eunise Cheng (viola) and Aidan Boase (piano)
Program note:
"I had a great Mind to have expos'd it as naked as it was born, without the Addition of a Preface, or the numberless Trumpery of commendatory Sonnets, Epigrams, and other Poems that usually usher in the Conceptions of Authors: For I dare boldly say, that tho' I bestow'd some Time inwriting the Book, yet it cost me not half so much Labour as this very Preface. I very often took up my Pen, and as often laid it down, and could not for my Life think of anything to the Purpose. Sitting once in a very studious Posture, with my Paper before me, my Pen in my Ear, my Elbow on the Table, and my Cheek on my Hand, considering how I should begin; a certain Friend of mine, an ingenious Gentleman, and of a merry Disposition, came in and surpriz'd me. He ask'd me what I was so very intent and thoughtful upon? I was so free with him as not to mince the Matter, but told him plainly I had been puzzling my Brain for a Preface(...)
The Gentleman, after a long and loud Fit of Laughing, rubbing his Forehead; O' my Conscience, Friend, said he, your Discourse has freed me from a Mistake that has a great while impos'd upon me: I always took you for a Man of Sense, but now I am sufficiently convinc'd to the contrary...”
– Cervantes
About the composer:
Luke Altmann co-founded weekly new music broadcasts at Radio Adelaide in 2000, with a special emphasis on the work of South Australian composers, which he continued to produce and present until 2012. He currently presents Night Music weekly on ABC Classic.
In 2005 he transformed Adelaide's inner-city art studio De la Catessen into an experimental music venue and presented over 200 new music events in four years, featuring performances by composers and musicians from around the world. In March 2021 he relaunched De la Catessen as a record label, pressing LPs of music by artists who performed there.
Altmann's reputation as a composer rests on two decades of regular appearances on Adelaide's chamber music concert programmes. A member of new music organisation The Firm since 2005, his works have also been presented by Musica Viva, COMA, and ABC Classic. Portrait albums of his solo piano music and chamber music have been recorded by Konstantin Shamray and Benaud Trio.
In recent years he has emerged as a composer for the cinema, with APRA and AACTA nominations to his credit. His original scores include The Leunig Fragments (2019) and Fell (Sydney Film Prize nominee, 2014).
He lives in Port Adelaide with his partner and their two sons.
More info: https://lukealtmann.bandcamp.com/merch