This month we hand over the curatorship to our graduating intern Ethan Connor McAlister. After mulling over various concepts for a playlist, he landed on a prominent influence in his own music, stillness.

In what seems to be a common thread for many composers, stillness appears in many guises. Typically associated with composers such as the Japanese Toru Takemitsu, Estonian Arvo Pärt or the British Max Richter, this playlist will instead feature five contemporary Australian pieces.

In this playlist you can find stillness in the study of space, both sonic and physical; in the structured silences of Kezia Yap, the improvisations of Josten Myburgh’s The waves which have kept me from reaching you, and in the use prepared piano, double bass and bus engine sound recordings in Millie Watsons’ Pools of Fir. You may also find stillness in the stretching of time in Alice Chance’s D I L A T E and finally, in the analysis of light in the first piece of our playlist, Kirsten Milenko’s stunning Ex Aere.

Making Waves hopes you can find a time to sit back with a cuppa* and, for just a moment, (hopefully) find stillness.

Hear something that catches your attention? To find out more about a musical work, click on the track name in the playlist and then again on ‘view track’. To find out more about a particular composer, click on their name in the ‘Details’ section below.

DETAILS

1. Kirsten Milenko, Ex Aere
   for electronics, soprano, double bass. Performed by Kirsten Milenko, Sylvie Woods, Jacques Emery.
2. Kezia Yap, a structure of silences: an exploration of 間
   for alto flute  Performed Keiko Murakami.
   
3. Alice Chance, D I L A T E
   for Piano Quartet and Tape.  Performed by Australia Piano Quartet.
   
4. Millie Watson Pools of Fir
   for prepared piano, double bass, bus engine.  Performed Millie Watson (prepared piano) and Benjamin Drury (double bass).
   
5. Josten Myburgh, The waves which have kept me from reaching you
   for alto voice, trumpet, electric guitar, alto saxophone, violin, percussion & electronics. Performed by Annika Moses (voice, electronics), Dan O’Connor (trumpet, electronics), Josten Myburgh (alto saxophone, electronics), Nate Wood (violin), Jameson Feakes (electric guitar), Ben Greene (percussion).

We’d love to hear about your listening experience! Share your thoughts or send messages of support to our featured composers and performers in the comment box below. We also encourage you to click through to Soundcloud to like, comment and subscribe to Making Waves as well as the composers, performers, and presenters featured.

The Stillness Waves playlist will be featured until the 1st of October 2018. All previous playlists from 2015 to present are available in our blog archives for the life of the project, so please do explore the website for previously featured sounds.

*Cup of Tea (clarification for our international friends)