currawong - Le Gallienne Nocturne: Message Board

currawong's Comments

Le Gallienne was an Australian composer who was born in 1915 and died in 1963 at the age of 48. He wrote orchestral music (the Sinfonietta is an interesting chirpy piece), piano pieces, chamber music and songs. His songs are still heard - I've accompanied a number of them and really like his Donne settings - but recordings of his other works are rather hard to come by.

This Nocturne is the only piano piece of his that I've seen the music for, though I believe it's now out of print. I've never performed it, but a few of my students over the years have worked on it and really enjoyed it. I've loved it ever since I heard one of my schoolfriends play it over 40 years ago.

Recorded on my Yamaha C3 using a Zoom H2. I've had the Zoom for a couple of years but I'm still experimenting to get the best position for recording. My music room is reasonably dead acoustically. I don't get much time to really polish solo repertoire (always frantically trying to get some ensemble stuff together at short notice), so be indulgent I beg you. :-)

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Name	Date	Comment
Rachfan	2010-08-24 22:37:39	This is a lovely nocturne beautifully played. Thanks for sharing! David
currawong	2010-08-22 02:30:23	Thanks so much, everyone, for the comments - much appreciated! I'm very glad I seem to have been able to convey the atmosphere of this piece. I'm so busy at the moment I haven't had time to listen to anything yet - really looking forward to hearing all the great music when life slows down a little...
wr	2010-08-22 01:45:53	What a great little piece, with some intriguing harmonic motion. And played so well - no need to ask for indulgence, let me assure you!
jotur	2010-08-22 00:31:17	How charmingly played, if you'll excuse my totally unsophisticated and basically ignorant opinion :) But it was lovely and delicate, and kind of haunting in places - reminiscences. I love to get to hear PW posters play. I enjoyed your rendition.
heidiv	2010-08-21 20:49:52	I'm so glad that you contributed an Australian piece. How very appropriate. Love the little duet in the middle. This music could be the score to a movie. I've never heard of Le Gallienne before. Thanks so much for finding the time to record this gem for us!
Inlanding	2010-08-21 19:01:58	First time, ever, hearing this composer. I really like the mood changes in this piece of music. You are clearly connecting to the sound as you play it. Very beautiful, indeed.
canonie	2010-08-21 06:07:10	Great choice! Glad that you have given us a chance to hear this out of print piece, it's interesting and lovely. The last 2 chords made me laugh out loud (that's a good thing with me). Very good recording quality I thought, I especially like the sound of the piano about half way through where the pace picks up. I enjoy the way you play, thank you.
gerg	2010-08-21 00:43:03	Currawong - I thought you did a fantastic job, and I hear you about being pressed for practice time. This sounds pretty well-polished to my ears. (Don't you teach piano? I have heard from other teachers how they wish they had more time for their own rep.) This is a mysterious and haunting Nocturne and thank you so much! :-)
Sorcerer88	2010-08-20 21:30:14	A haunting, dark athmosphere. Captivating!
Carey	2010-08-20 20:26:19	So wonderful to finally have the chance to hear you play !! The recording quality is very good - and your Yamaha sounds great. Very sensitive performance of a beautiful piece. Le Gallienne is completely new to me. Thanks for submitting this !!
Cinnamonbear	2010-08-20 18:15:00	currawong--that was gorgeous! What a rich, moody piece. Thank you for working this up to share with everyone!