Christmas Carol commissioned by Sydney Philharmonia Choirs in 2018. This studio recording was funded by the APRA-AMCOS "Sustainability" Award for recordings during COVID-19.

Capricorn

Commissioned to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Appin Massacre in Sydney, 2016. This track is instrumental only and features Vanessa Tammetta and Heather Burnley on violins, Charlotte Fetherston on viola and Clare Kahn on cello.

Buruwan Elegy

"Paper Stars" is a new musical theatre work, began in 2020 and currently in development. Book by Grace Chapple and Miranda Middleton, Music & Lyrics by Luke Byrne.
The musical is based on the life story of a young PL Travers as she leaves her native Australia and comes to London with a belief that she has "a great story inside, so much greater and better than my own". 

These tracks are my home-made demos of the songs with GarageBand instruments and all vocals by myself (and not pitch-corrected!)

Paper Stars 

PS4.WomansWork

PS15.WindsofChange

PS16.TheGround

PS1.SailBeneaththeStars

PS17.RightbyYou

PS12.PeterPan

PS18.Finale

PS5.NoPlaceforaLady

PS8.MakingTea

PS7.Letter&Lullaby

PS2.GreatStoryInside

PS11.EverydayMagic

PS3.CentreoftheWorld

PS6. Anonymous

"Between the Sea & Sky" was my first musical, commissioned by MLC School in 2014 and eventually making it all the way to the New York Musical Festival. These are a few studio recordings that give a taste of the show: the "Opening" and "Finale" are sung by Amelia Cormack and myself with Vanessa Tammetta on violin; "The Cave" recording was made possible by a Sustainability Grant from APRA-AMCOS during COVID-19.

BSS Studio

LB.BSS.Finale (excerpt)

LB.BSS.TheCave.Part2Only

Live performance recording of Gondwana Chorale at National Choral School, Sydney, January 2016. Percussion Luke Byrne, conducted by Carl Crossin. "Desert Sea" was commissioned by Sydney Philharmonia Choirs for "to be sung on water" at the Sydney Opera House in 2015.

I have always been fascinated by Lake Eyre, the "great lake" of Australia that is (mostly) completely dry. It occupies a unique place in our cultural geography and imagination, and before the discovery of Uluru it was the symbolic centre of our continent, the "dead heart". In the last few years Lake Eyre has been in flood and yielded almost hallucinatory photos, but I wanted to capture both of its characters. One day, hopefully soon, I'll actually get there.

A huge influence on this work was the award-winning photography of Peter Elfes, who I serendipitously met in the Royal Botanic Gardens at the time "Desert Sea" was premiered nearby at the Sydney Opera House. The language of explorers like Charles Sturt and writers like DH Lawrence have found their way into the text of this piece, but it was these unearthly, almost unbelievable photos that lent the music its character.

http://www.peterelfesphotography.com/sites/peterelfesphotography.com/files/Red-Edge1.jpg?1340858815

Desert Sea

Recording of Junges Vokalensemble Hannover, conducted by Klaus-Jürgen Etzold with Frederik Botthof on cello. This recording is a technical marvel accomplished during COVID-19, the singers recording themselves at home which is seamlessly integrated into this track and its accompanying video on YouTube. This work was commissioned by the Adelaide Chamber Singers in 2018 to partner with my earlier work "Desert Sea", itself based on a very different character and location of water in South Australia.

The first stanza of "where sails once flew" is based on the account of a ship called the Songvaar that in a strange coincidence sank off the coast of South Australia on the same day as the Titanic. I love seeing footage of submerged shipwrecks covered in corals and anenomes, and the strangeness of this underwater ballet is what led me to Ariel’s song “Full Fathom Five” from The Tempest, itself a relentlessly strange and haunting play.

where sails once flew

Live recording of Gondwana Latitude 34 Choir in the Gondwana World Choral Symposium, Sydney Opera House July 2019. Piano Luke Byrne and conducted by Elizabeth Scott who also commissioned the work.

"Foundling" is the fourth of my "Four Songs from Grimm's". Like many of the Grimm's folk tales, this story is dark and atmospheric, but at its centre is the most beautiful bond between two children, who avoid various grim fates through their simple principle of "never leave me, and I'll never leave you". These pieces were initially inspired by Australian author and illustrator Shaun Tan's book "The Singing Bones" where he captures an essence of various Grimm's stories with a single sculpture and short excerpt of the text, in turn giving me an excellent model for my own compositions.

Foundling

An excerpt of the live recording of "Bloody Murder", composed as part of the MA Opera Makers course at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama London and premiered in July 2022.

Murder.LIVE.Excerpt

A short cue of music I wrote for the 2023 LAMDA production of "Image of an Unknown Young Woman" by Elinor Cook.

LB.ImageUnknownWoman.FINALCUE

Four cues of music I wrote for the 2023 LAMDA production of "Mosquitoes" by Lucy Kirkwood. Mixed in to several of these tracks is the sound of a black hole as captured by NASA.

LB.Mosquitoes4.LASTEXPERIMENT

LB.Mosquitoes3.BLACKHOLE

LB.Mosquitoes2.BIGBANG

LB.Mosquitoes1.THEME

An excerpt from the chamber opera "The Proposal" (2024). 
Music by Luke Byrne, lyrics by Shirley Keane. 
Soprano Catherine Donnelly, piano Luke Byrne, recorded at the Irish Chamber Orchestra in Limerick, Ireland. 
A young woman laments the sudden death of her sweetheart as she stands vigil over his coffin with another woman in the West of Ireland, 1967.

Limestone Aria

Live recording of Part 2 of "The Proposal", a new chamber opera with libretto by Shirley Keane and music by Luke Byrne. This performance was at the Belltable Theatre in Limerick, Ireland in May 2024. For details please go to:
https://limetreebelltable.ie/events/the-ballybruff-trilogy/

LB.TheProposal.LIVE.EXCERPT

This is a setting for solo voice and piano/chamber ensemble of an excerpt of "The Tempest" by William Shakespeare. This speech by Caliban is so poetic and utterly unlike the rest of his lines that I was compelled to set it to music.

Luke Byrne's Album

Caliban's Dream

The first of my "Four Songs from Grimms", the cautionary tale of "The Mouse, the Bird & the Sausage". This recording is of Sydney Philharmonia VOX choir performing at Four Winds, Bermagui, NSW on 23/6/2019. Piano Luke Byrne and Conductor Elizabeth Scott, who also commissioned these works.

Grimms1.MouseBirdSausage

The fourth of my "Four Songs from Grimms", the beautiful tale of "Foundling" or "The Foundling Bird". This recording is of Sydney Philharmonia VOX choir performing at Four Winds, Bermagui, NSW on 23/6/2019. Piano Luke Byrne and Conductor Elizabeth Scott, who also commissioned these works.

Grimms4.Foundling

Luke Byrne is an Australian composer and musician, currently based in London where he is a Visiting Fellow at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Associate Teacher at the London Academy of Music & the Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

Luke’s choral compositions are performed around Australia and the world, from Sydney to Hannover, Uluru to Cambridge. These include "Desert Sea", "Capricorn" and "Earthrise" for Sydney Philharmonia, and "Storm Bird", "Buruwan Elegy" and "Birinyi" for Gondwana Indigenous Children’s Choir and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. 

Luke is also a musical director and composer in theatre, including "The Harp in the South", "Muriel’s Wedding" and "Chimerica" for the Sydney Theatre Company, and "Snugglepot & Cuddlepie", "Hamlet" and "The Events" for Belvoir St Theatre. Luke’s first musical "Between the Sea and Sky" was selected for the 2018 New York Musical Festival where it won five awards including Outstanding Score and Best Musical.

Luke Byrne Composer

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