Antony Field and Daniel McKay

On Friday, 21st October, 2011 we had the privilege of witnessing Duo 19's first performance in the ACT, at a Canberra Classical Guitar Society concert, in the Wesley Music Centre.

Taking their name from their tram route, Duo 19 consists of Antony Field and Daniel McKay, both of whom are graduates of ANU's School of Music and currently teach at the Victorian College of the Arts.

The concert included performances of works by beloved Australian composers Phillip Houghton and Nigel Westlake. It was interesting to hear Westlake's Hinchinbrook Riffs, originally composed to be played by one guitarist with a digital delay machine, expertly executed by this duo.

We also loved hearing Songs from the Forest, also by Westlake, and originally written for Antony and Daniel's teacher, Tim Kain, to play with John Williams.

It was also intriguing to hear two of Castelnuovo-Tedesco's preludes and fugues from his Well-Tempered Guitars. His 24 pieces were written as a homage to J S Bach and for his favourite guitar duo, Pesti-Lagoya. You can hear one of these works performed by the Brasil Guitar Duo in the following clip.

Which film composer?

Here is a question for you.
Which composer has written the most film scores?

Answer: I don't know.

But I do know that John Williams has received more Oscar nominations than any other individual and has written the scores for over 100 still well-known films, several of which have received top awards.

He has not only made more money from composing than any other film composer: he has also made more than all of the others put together.

Here are a few films which have featured his music:
The Harry Potter movies
The Star Wars movies
The Superman movies
The Indiana Jones movies
E.T.
The Jaws movies
Schindler's List
Angela's Ashes

The music sounds terrific in the films, but even more enjoyable when you listen to it without the dialogue, sound effects and film distracting you from discovering its beauty.

When we lived in the Blue Mountains I was privileged to occasionally play piano in the Penrith Symphony Orchestra. One year, we performed a Star Wars medley and as we played, I began to notice things I hadn't heard in watching the films or listening to the soundtracks.

Williams had written special themes for many of the characters in the story. In one of the excerpts which was played while Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia were together in a scene, you could hear Luke's theme (which is also the main Star Wars theme) interweaving with the themes for the other characters. Maestro Williams had cleverly created his themes so that they could be played together!

Do you remember the quirky jazzy theme which is played when there is a scene in an odd sort of cafe, with lots of odd-looking aliens whooping it up? Here is a great piano duet version to enjoy.





And this 7 minute medley presents soem of Williams' most memorable themes, with a few lesser-known, but enjoyable ones.