Brian Baumbusch "Effigy" Interview Conducted by John Schneider, March 31 2022, KPFK Los Angeles

The Saucepot

Silken Samarkand Ruan Solo

@2017
for orchestra
commissioned by Ensemble Nouveau 
Conducted by John Keene 
Premiered at "Grace and Elegance: Schubert 5" at the Sydney Conservatorium in May 2017

Decadence

Performed and recorded by Oscar Smith. Cover art by Liam Mulligan.

This piece was inspired by hearing many different clocks ticking simultaneously, but not quite in time with each other. It covers some tricky rhythmic concepts such as metric modulation and swing.

Frustrations In Time II

Felix Bornholdt - Piano
Ashley Stoneham - Drums
Jack Stoneham - Alto Sax

Featuring a speech written by Bruno Bich.

The Pen Club at Bohemian Grove 12.12.17

An interesting improvised collaboration with Adam Melzer on prepared piano, and myself playing gong ageng wadon, gangsa pemadé, and half a réong.  This is the second of two improvised works, and is the more experimental of the two.

Antipodean Diptych - II

Dedicated to Jasmine Mills, Dr Steven Capaldo and the Sydney University Wind Orchestra.

A hero is engulfed within a force larger than herself.

Rapture

Performed by Flinders Quartet. Concert footage filmed by 5stream; audio recorded, mixed and mastered by Ana Paula Gargantini, APGMproductions. June 22, 2019. Library at the Dock, Melbourne.

Video of performance can be found here - https://vimeo.com/345175559 

If you're interested in seeing the score, please get in touch.


PROGRAM NOTES

The String Quartet Project is the beginning of a journey that will never be completed. I will continue to add new movements to the piece indefinitely. This suite of music will grow and grow, each movement informing the next. The compositional approach of each movement is informed by the context in which it is written, and the ensemble who performs it: with each string quartet leaving their mark on the work as a whole.


I - The Slow Unfolding of the Self

These are the first marks made for the work. I wanted each note to have gravitas, hence the slow, austere mood. It is almost without pulse and utilises frequent dove-tailing. Harmonically, I've been inspired by the work of the American composer Elliott Carter.

II - Foreign Gravity

The second movement oscillates between soloist and the ensemble in a call and response-like fashion. Instructions to play freely, steady and aggressively are given. It consists of hocket-like sections, all-interval tetrachords and an absence of extended techniques.

The String Quartet Project (I) The Slow Unfolding of the Self [2019]

Sung by the Scholars of St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney

Born on a new day- John David & Philip Lawson (arr. Peter Knight)

Oscar Smith is a promising young composer with a wide spectrum of interests. 
He is also very passionate about Balinese Gamelan and regularly studies in Bali with local musicians.  Oscar studied Composition at the Sydney Conservatorium, where he primarily studied with Michael Smetanin. Oscar’s works have been premiered by SPIRAL ensemble, Gondwana Chorale, St Andrew’s Cathedral Choir, Voces Cælestium, double bassist Will Hansen, the Sydney Conservatorium Gamelan Ensemble, Gamelan Çudamani and Gamelan Salukat.