conversationissue one

2012

editor’s

Welcome to the first 2012 issue of Conver-sation, the student magazine that’s run by Con students for Con students. While many of you probably have start-of-year resolutions of your own to keep (practise more, sleep more, party more - delete where applicable) Conversation’s 2012 man-tra is to involve as many Con students as possible, both internally and externally. We want to create a domain for young, fresh, creative ideas and to raise the quality of Con student life as much as we can. We’re delighted to introduce a number of new

and old contributors, information about whom you can find on pages 4 and 5. The Con Students Association (CSA) already has plenty of exciting social stuff lined up for you this year. We also have interviews, reviews and more ready for you to peruse. There are loads of interesting things happening musically this year, so make sure you check out each fortnightly issue of Conversation to stay up-to-date. As always, each issue is both printed and uploaded onto www.conconversation.wordpress.com.Enjoy!

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Cameron BarnettEditor

Social EventsTo enhance your experience at the Con, we orga-nise a number of social events throughout the year where students can get together and have a good time. Here’s what we have planned so far:- Start of Semester Picnic to kick off the year on Friday 16 March- Paragon functions-The Con Revue in second semester-The annual Con Ball in second semester- More events TBA

The CSA is part of the University of Sydney Union’s Clubs and Societies Program. Being specifically a faculty club means that each and every one of you is automatically a member of our organisation- that’s right, there are no joining fees or tedious paperwork involved! As a student of the Syd-ney Conservatorium you can access any and all of our ser-vices- this includes being able to attend any of our events, get assistance with student welfare concerns, and get

involved in extra-curricular initiatives. If you buy an Access card you will receive additional privi-

leges- discounts at various places around Sydney (including the Paragon!)

and various events.

are we?Who

CSA

It is our aim to support and represent the student body at the Conservatorium. We endeavour toachieve this by making ourselves available to assist with student queries, concerns and complaints and by providing a point

of contact between students and staff:

-We run a mentoring program for first year

students-We represent and put for-ward students’ concerns on various committees including the Staff-Student Liaison Committee and the Learning, Teaching and Coursework Committee.-We hold a stall in the foyer of the Con once a week so you can find us easily.-You can approach us at any time and we will do our best to assist.

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Student welfare

Conservatorium Students Association

Cameron is at the tail end of his Musicology undergradu-ate degree. When not fielding confused questions and pained expressions regarding his chosen major, Cameron teaches an abominable number of clarinet/saxophone students and writes for a number of Sydney-based publications. Cameron is passionate about the effective communication of ideas through music, teaching and writing. He is also a rabid fan of B-movies, with fa-vourites including The Room, Tokyo Gore Police and Black Dynamite. He looks forward to an exciting year as editor of Conversation.

Hello... I’m Meggie, hailing from a town called Salamander Bay where 70 percent of the residents are retirees and the remaining 30 percent are avid rat-tail and mullet enthusiasts. It’s very exciting. Just in case employment opportunities in the field of music are limited, I added a Bachelor of Arts to my Bachelor of Music Studies. I can always fall back on an arts degree... right? Aaaand my principal study is voice.

Charlotte grew up in Auckland where she learnt the violin from childhood, progressing (upgrading, perhaps?) to the viola at age fourteen. Charlotte completed a Bachelor of Music (Honours) in performance at the New Zealand School of Music, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at the Conserva-torium. Charlotte likes performing in orchestral and chamber music ensembles and writing about mu-sic. She enjoys practising (yes, that is the correct spell-ing: it’s a verb) and drinking coffee, and hopes to have some good topics for this year’s Conversation.

Charlotte Featherstoncontributer

Cameron Barnetteditor

Emma is studying classical sax performance here at the Con. Having been here for three-and-a-bit years she has finally completed second year for the second time round. When not with a saxophone in her face she can be found singing really badly, talking in the cafe, or grazing in the botanical gardens. Her main aims for the immediate future involve staying at uni for ever and ever and be-ing involved in as many ensembles as is physically pos-sible. Feel free to say hi or give me an opinion on the content of Conversation - I am way too small to be scary!

Emma Storeycontributer

Rachel is currently doing a Master of Music (Mus. Ed.) with an interest in studying the aural training techniques of senior secondary teachers. She has two lorikeets and an absurd cat called Hugo who will often be found in inappro-priate places around the house. Rachel has an obsession with all things avian and will sporadically be seen in various green places around Sydney searching for birds. She also writes a blog on narcolepsy – www.narcolepticgirl.weebly.org – and enjoys pondering the minutiae of a sleepy life.

Rachel Whitecontributer

Meggie Morriscontributer

get to knowthe contributors

Born in San Cristóbal, Mexico, Daniel has lived in Australia for the past 15 years, writing for various musical publications to improve his English. His love for music was nurtured by his parents, both members of the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional. Currently serving his third year at the Conservatorium, Daniel en-joys travelling, cooking, bullfighting and crosswords. He also runs a part-time hair-salon (enquire for appointments).

Sarah is a graphic design student, amateur photogra-pher and Nintendo junkie who runs on large amounts of caffeine and very small amounts of sleep. When she’s not glued to her computer doing design work, Sarah can generally be found immersed in a book, practicing piano, cooking up a storm in the kitchen, or wasting time on the internet. Currently she attends Billy Blue College of Design and is studying a Bachelor of Communication Design.

Daniel Butlercontributer

Sarah Wielgoszgraphic designer

Milo St. Clare-Holmes is a ‘pataphorist, riverboat-ing enthusiast and occasional composer. An amateur falconer, he writes crosswords for the Conversation in between Antarctic expeditions. Of an evening, he enjoys attempting to memorise ‘Finnegan’s Wake’, snifter of brandy close at hand, in the smoky ambience of his study. Recently, he has taught himself Phoenician.To contact Milo about crosswords or to declare a blood feud, simply e-mail the Conversation, or turn on your searchlight and shine the Milo-Signal into the night sky.

Matthew is in the midst of a Bachelor of Music Stud-ies Degree, majoring in Composition. Last semester he contributed a short series of articles to ‘Conversa-tion’ which attempted to explore the extraordinary musical expressivity of Poetry. This semester’s contri-butions will focus on some of the more experimental poetries being created NOW, and an extended consid-eration on the issue of ‘Style’ – see Charles Bukowski’s poem “Style” for an excellent introduction to the topic.

Milo C. St Clare-Holmes crossword wizard

Matthew Gambrill contributor

TreasurerMisa Yamamoto

Student Welfare OfficerKate Proctor

Social CoordinatorViet-Anh Nguyen

PresidentBernice Zandona

Student Welfare OfficerAleisha Kahn

Social CoordinatorLou Peake

SecretaryTim Harries

Meet the CSA

Northern

Beaches

the

Orchestra

Q: What is the Northern Beaches Orchestra (NBO)?

The NBO is an all-ages Symphony Orchestra, obviously based on the northern beaches, which was created back in 2009 to fill a local need of not having a Symphony Orchestra. Specifi-cally, when it was started the Orchestra was called the Northern Beaches Youth Orchestra, with a focus on making opportunities for secondary high school students and younger tertiary students. It was also a lot closer than some of the other, more competitive alternatives such as the Sydney Youth Orchestra. The recent expansion of the Orchestra into an all-ages ensemble was in response to the sheer number of quality instrumen-talists in their 30’s and 40’s who wanted a local performance outlet.

Q: You mentioned that the NBO filled an evident hole in the cultural fabric of the Northern Beaches. What are some of the hap-penings which NBO has done and will be doing in the future?

Well, we had a great start with all three of the local Councils (Manly, Warringah and Pittwater) sponsoring us; they defi-nitely agreed that the need was there. The NBO is still heavily involved with Manly Council, providing string quartets for some of their functions and perform-ing at the Christmas Carols concert each year. NBO just keeps filling that need

Q: Recently I met a young woman who was an ex-NBO member. Amongst an increasingly busy life-style, she also cited the technical level of the Or-chestra as partly influenc-ing her decision to leave. Is this kind of attitude towards non-professional ensembles such as NBO realistic?

The NBO is only 4 years old. Other nearby community Orchestras such as the Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic, which is ac-tually a pretty fantastic group, is 40 years old. Moreover, the Orchestra doesn’t get its members from exclusively Ku-ring-gai but draws them from all over Sydney, recruiting many music teachers and even

in more and more ways. Our upcom-ing concert with Northern Beaches based band Lime Cordiale (June 29th) will hopefully engage a lot of local young people from their fan base who wouldn’t otherwise care for ‘classical’ music.

“The recent expansion of the Orchestra into an all-ages ensemble

was in response to the sheer number of quality

instrumentalists in their 30’s and 40’s who wanted a

local performance outlet.”

A brusk CONversation with Joseph Nizeti (approx. 5’9”, the deepest of brunet hair, black rimmed glasses of a rounded rectangular shape, a most agreeable amount of facial stubble, spry gait, a voice which is firmly inquisitive yet also at times highly inflected and buoyant, noticeably brown eyes) Honours Musicologist and Arts Ad-ministrator for the emergent Northern Beaches Orchestra.

Conservatorium staff – I believe Lewis Cornwall plays the Oboe in it. The cur-rent short term goals of NBO are togrow to full Symphonic size in the next 4-5 years and get more local music teachers and educators involved (though we do already have a few fantastic teach-ers on board!). At this stage the Orches-tra is more about creating opportunities for its members. That doesn’t mean Musical excellence is not very important to us; we do our best with the resources we have. And I don’t think it will be long at all until that opportunity becomes more special, and then we can take the organization of the Orchestra to the next level with things such as auditions for entry and seats.

Q: For anyone who is interested, but not 100 % sure, in joining a com-munity Orchestra like the NBO, what would you say to them?

Call! Sit in on a rehearsal! You’ll find 9 times out of 10 that the Orchestra actu-ally needs more players; they would love to hear from you! Most of the people working in community orchestras are really friendly volunteers, some of who

have been doing what they do for many years; they know their stuff. In the case of the NBO, we are at the level where we are happy for people to just sit in rather than formally audition. Also make a habit of going to see concerts, support them these Orchestras; they need all the funds they can get to keep putting on fantastic community concerts. And... Yeah... Get behind it.

“At this stage the Orchestra is more about creating

opportunities for its members.”

This semester there will be a screening of Wagner’s Ring Cycle which will be free for all staff and students to attend. It’s an event for Wagner lovers and for those who have always wanted to watch the Ring but couldn’t bring themselves to do it on their own.

Refreshments will be provided and our resident Wagnerian David Larkin will be giving a small talk before each opera to guide the audience through this immense and fascinating work. Afterwards we’ll go to the pub to recover.

ConChristian

GroupMEETING TIME:

TUESDAY & THURSDAY 1PM ROOM 2004ROMANS 1:1-16UNASHAMED

Which subject have you enjoyed teaching the most since joining the conservatorium staff?I’ve learnt a lot through teaching all of the Units I’ve taught, but probably the most challenging and perhaps rewarding has been a subject called Teaching Music in Junior Secondary School. It’s the hardest thing to know how to do, and I’ve enjoyed interacting with SCM students on such challenges.

What do you miss (if anything) about high school music teach-ing?Not too much actually…it’s very hard work! ...but making music almostevery day would be one thing, workingwith keen colleagues, and you get to

How did you spend your 2011 christmas break?A research field trip to Vanuatu…a week at the beach…family time…I became the proud owner of an Irish Wheaten Terrier pup, so training and cleaning up etc.!...many weeks working on an ARC Grant proposal…

What is the one thing you would never go into a music classroom without?Something new about music or some new music I just discovered…a few good ideas about how to excite students about music.

What subject are you most look-ing forward to teaching this year, and why?All of them…because they all involve applied performance, musicology, theory, philosophy, aesthetics etc. of music. At the moment, probably Popular Music Studies, because I’m often conflicted about how to think about and respond to popular music; it presents great personal challenges and fascinations.

interview with

michael webbDr. Michael Webb is a lecturer in the Conservatorium’s Music Education department. Here he talks to Rachel White about his travels, his research and his new puppy.

know students better in high school teaching – that’s rewarding.

“...be open to and thrilled by

the rich, vast universe of

music making!”

Your research involves working with and studying the music of different cultures. What has been the most memorable place you have visited thus far and why?They’re all memorable, one way or another. Currently I’m enjoying working with my colleague Hideki Isoda on a film about choral hymnody on a tiny islet called Uluveu (Maskelyne Islands) in Vanuatu. It’s a beautiful place and the singing is startling and powerful – from that of the young children to very old people.

As a supervisor for various research projects, what is one piece of advice you would give to any future research stu-dents?Research can take place at so many levels – it involves finding out something new about music. So, be open to and thrilled by the rich, vast universe of human music making! Always “think harder” about what is going on in music and in music making situations – prepare to be overwhelmed at and by this varied and deeply meaningful human creative process.

What projects of your own will you be pursuing this year?I hope to finish the film I mentioned earlier and I’m beginning a book relating hymnody in Melanesia to musical aesthetics and music ecology (this will take me a year or two to complete). I’m also working on a chapter for an edited book due out in 2013 on Pentecostal music making around the world – I’m analyzing two “performance/worship” situations I found myself documenting

What is your favourite style of music at the moment?I listen the most to jazz – Australian and from elsewhere. Today I’m working through Simon Barker’s Chiri – astonishing! And also Miles Davis Quin-tet’s three-disc Live in Europe 1967 and Finnish trumpeter Verneri Pohjola’s Ancient History. I also love jazz piano and keep coming back to the music of The Necks.

What do you hope to have achieved in five years’ time?To have figured out better ways to prepare pre-service music educators for their future career…to share the pleasure and insight that comes from involvement with all kinds of music…to introduce others through research and publication and advocacy to the unique sound and song worlds of Melanesia.

in Papua New Guinea, one in 2008, the other in 2010.

The Sydney Symphony seems to have bagged a trove of excellent violinists to start off their 2012 season. Isabelle Faust last week gave us the Stravinsky concerto, and the paragon Anne-Sophie Mutter will present her inimitable rendi-tion of the Beethoven at month’s end.

But first we were gifted Lisa Batiashvili, performing the Brahms Violin Concerto. The violinist’s repertoire holds few greater challenges. Brahms’ unwillingness to compromise his music for the sake of facility was tempered by the famous violinist Joachim’s advice. The result is one of the most technically demanding, yet violinistic, concertos. Batiashivili’s rendering of this much-loved and oft-performed work was masterful. The technique was flawless; not one note was out of place. When necessary her projection soared over the full orchestra, the strength and dom-inance of her tone belying her skill as a chamber musician. Moments of inspired musicality gave the performance a

personal touch hard to find in such a standard of the canon. From the opening movement (and formidable cadenza) to the bravura finale, Batiashvili held her audience spellbound.

It was a concert of Titans: either side of the mighty concerto stood Beethoven’s Coriolan overture and the tone poem Also Sprach Zarathustra of Strauss. The orchestra was in fine form for both, under the baton of Chief Conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy. The famous opening of the Coriolan was controlled yet dramatic, stringent sustained notes juxtaposed with crisp chords. Though the tempo was slightly laboured, the orchestra conveyed the sense of foreboding originally intended for this overture, answered on its premiere by the Fourth Symphony and Fourth Piano concerto, and here by the equally triumphant Brahms.

Daniel Butler

SSO & Lisa Batiashvili (violin)

gigreviews

february 22-25

ACO & the Hilliard Ensemble

The Australian Chamber Orches-tra’s first concert of 2012, “Chopin and Mendelsohn’s Octet”, continues the now well-established tradition of program-matic diversity that director Richard Tognetti has cultivated during his tenure. The E minor Piano Concerto of Chopin, performed by Ruski Polina Leschenko, was undeniably the highlight of the con-cert. From the piano’s entry, dramatic enough in the writing, Leschenko’s sound had a certain subtlety one would think misplaced within a Romantic concerto. However, it is this quality that lends her playing so much to the work. At no point did the pianist sacrifice musicianship for showmanship, and there is ample oppor-tunity within the work to do so. Perfect phrasing coupled with a truly effortless technique was deployed throughout. The solos from within the orchestra, subtly interjected, highlighted Chopin’s gift for endless melodic invention.

Mendelssohn’s Octet, a favourite of the orchestra, rounded off the program. The virility and élan of the work is perfectly suited to the ACO, as proven by past performances and their record-ing of the work, one of the finest on offer. However, this rendition was lacking. Tognetti’s idiosyncrasies, once exciting and unique, now seem to have become a caricature of themselves. The formidable individual

talent of the ACO was evident, but ensemble-wise it was not what audiences have come to expect from this group.

This sense of playing to reputation also seemed to provide the impetus for the first two works of the concert, Ennio Morricone’s “Exercise No.1” and Tognetti’s own arrangement of two Paganini caprices. Ostentatious displays seemed to take precedent over musical substance.

For devotees accustomed to flawless performances, the ACO seems more variable with each year. This is usually assuaged with an outstanding annual centrepiece, such as the Brahms 1 in 2010. Here’s hoping we can expect more of these throughout the year.

Daniel Butler

“Perfect phrasing coupled

with a truly effortless technique was deployed

throughout.”

march 11, 17, 20, 21

Les Violons de France with

Cecile Besnard (soprano)

On a recent trip overseas, I was lucky enough to have the chance to hear Vivaldi’s Four Seasons performed live by a renowned string orchestra, in La Madeleine Church, a stunning piece of architecture in the heart of Paris, France. As a long time listener of Vivaldi, I went to the concert expecting to revel in the simple pleasures of the seasons, but I did not expect to be captivated by so much more than just the music.

The sole purpose of holding the con-cert in this particular church was due to its acoustical nature, in that it made it possible for an 8-piece string orchestra, and soprano, to perform without any electronic amplification whatsoever. The natural acoustics of the church meant that part of the performance was the ex-perience for the audience to hear music as it may have been heard by concert-goers and music devotees some 400 years ago. As someone who has studied music, composition and performance, it was an entirely new and glorious way of perceiving sound.

Hearing music played in this way made me appreciate the nuances of the music, in a way which would be almost impos-sible when listening to a modern record-ing. Watching Frederic Moreau, violin soloist and orchestral leader, perform to

his audience, communicate with his musi-cians, directing and coercing the sound in order to utilise the space to the hilt, was fascinating. Chords seemed spacious, phrases lingering, high notes thrilling.

Moreau’s flamboyance was also incred-ibly entertaining – he almost danced about the stage, flitting like a swallow, en-ticing the audience with sound and sight.

While you may not be able to sporadi-cally trip over to France for a quick con-cert, if you can, embrace the chance to hear an ensemble perform in as natural an environment as possible. If done right, the sound will wash over you and cloak you in notes, and will give you a chance to imagine the musical lives of people way back when.

Rachel White

“As someone who has studied music,

composition and performance,

it was an entirely new and glorious way of

perceiving sound. ”

JANUARY 4

Review: SSO conducted by

David Newman

On Saturday January 28th I was very excited to be seeing and hearing the Syd-ney Symphony Orchestra play the com-plete score of West Wide Story along with a projection of the film. I hadn’t seen a concert of this nature before and wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy it or not – would it really work having a live orchestra simply play along with a movie?

In this case, it absolutely did. Of course, the spectacular Bernstein score means that it could be played by some guy on a Casio keyboard accompanying a mime artist and you would still walk out of the performance humming ‘I Feel Pretty’. Instead, it was an on-form SSO, with a few brassy ring-ins (including Conserva-torium graduates Nicholas Russoniello, Nathan Henshaw and lecturer Christina Leonard on saxophone) performing clas-sic tunes such as ‘America’, ‘Jet Song’ and ‘Mambo’ with punch and panache. Sitting to the side of the stage I was also able to see the visual metronome conductor David Newman had to adhere to for the live music to match up exactly with the pre-recorded footage – just a little extra element to make conducting the com-plex score that slightest bit more difficult.

As someone who is a fan of the musical, I felt that watching the film didn’t quite match the intensity and spark of watch-ing a real live cast on stage, although Rita Moreno as Anita is certainly the bench-mark by which all future Anita’s should measure themselves. However, the nature of this performance meant that the orchestra, in essence, became the leads and the music took centre stage. A clas-sic film, with a classic score, made for an incredibly enjoyable night at the House.

Rachel White

“...the orchestra, in essence,became the leads and the music

took centre stage. ”

JANUARY28

Lunchbreak Concert - Woodwind Unit

Alumni & Student Performance Series - Beethoven - All Five Piano Concertos Live - Concert 1

Students from the Conservatorium’s Woodwind Unit perform a 50 minute lunchtime concert in a program directed by their Chair of Unit, Michael Duke.

Cho Ki (Jacky) Wong, soloist & conduc-tor; SCM Orchestra led by Ole Böhn -- 3 piano concertos by Beethoven.

Conservatorium Open Academy - Rising Stars

Princeton Jazz at The Con - Special Event

Students from the Rising Stars program perform with a professional accompa-nist to present works they have been preparing with their teacher. Featur-ing a wide repertoire on a variety of instruments including violin, cello, piano, flute, clarinet and trumpet.

In this exciting joint venture, students from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and Princeton University’s Jazz Departments will engage in a week-long exchange of cultural and musical ideas.

Cocktail Hour - A New Century of Australian SongRowena Cowley, soprano; David Miller, piano -- Music of Barbeler, Schultz and Abbott.

Jazz in the Cafe - Kevin Hunt & FriendsJoin us for jazz in a relaxed setting with Conservatorium musicians and friends - the perfect way to ease yourself into the working week.

March 17

March 19

March 21

March 23

what’s onat the con

Cocktail Hour - Premieres

SCM Musicology Col-loquium Series - Daniel Grimley: Oxford Uni-versity

Cocktail Hour - Heavy Metal in the Tropics: Gamelan Music of Bali

Alumni & Student Performance Series - Beethoven - All Five Piano Concertos Live - Concert 2

Lunchbreak Concert - Wind Symphony

10 Year Sydney Reunion - Class of 2002

Katia Beaugeais, saxophone; Phillip Shovk, piano -- Music of Beaugeais, Caplet, Virtaperko and Tanaka.

2012 is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Delius, and this lecture focuses on one of Delius’s richest but most critically neglected works: The Song of the High Hills for orchestra and chorus (1911-2).

Ensemble Sekaa Gong Tirta Sinar; Gary Watson, leader -- Music of unknown composers

Cho Ki (Jacky) Wong, soloist & conduc-tor; SCM Orchestra led by Ole Böhn -- 2 piano concertos by Beethoven

Wind Symphony students perform in a 50-minute Lunchbreak Concert -- Pro-gram to be advised.

Get your classmates together to cel-ebrate the 10 year anniversary of your graduation from the University of Sydney.

March 26

March 28

March 29

downacross4. Composer of the famed ‘Concertino da camera’ for alto sax and ensemble5. You might remember this composer from his ‘Faust’ or ‘Ave Maria’6. (also 7 down). Obsolete orches-tral instruments, both of which were included in the original ‘Symphonie fantastique’ of Berlioz8. Military commander who was the original dedicatee of a Beethoven sym-phony10. Early Renaissance vocal composer13. Jazz violinist, often worked with he of 21 across15. Spectralist composer17. Possibly the most famous compos-er-architect20. 20th century composer whose ‘Ionisation’ was one of the first works for percussion ensemble21. Legendary ‘gypsy’ guitarist22. Amount of symphonies written by Ravel23. Poet whose works inspired De-bussy, amongst others25. His ‘Pli Selon Pli’ is based on the poetry of 23 across26. Often, 8 across was depicted with one of these

1. Recently deceased comic artist2. Perhaps the most famous organist-composer of his nation3. Film-maker and artist who brought together composers such as 11 down5. First name of 10 across and 23 down7. see 6 across9. (Backwards) artist whose recent Sydney exhibition closes soon11. Composer, studied with D’Indy12. First name of Alkan (sans hyphen)14. Site of the 17th century posses-sions which were the subject of a Penderecki opera16. (Roman) number of individual ‘Gnossiennes’ and ‘Gymnopedies’ writ-ten by Satie18. Literary gentleman thief originated by Maurice Leblanc19. Violinist and dedicatee of a Beethoven sonata23. Medieval poet-composer24. Author of ‘Gargantua and Pan-tragruel’

puzzlepage

CROSSWORD! Across: 4. Composer of the famed ‘Concertino da camera’ for alto sax and ensemble 5. You might remember this composer from his ‘Faust’ or ‘Ave Maria’ 6 (also 7 down). Obsolete orchestral instruments, both of which were included in the original ‘Symphonie fantastique’ of Berlioz 8. Military commander who was the original dedicatee of a Beethoven symphony 10. Early Renaissance vocal composer 13. Jazz violinist, often worked with he of 21 across 15. Spectralist composer 17. Possibly the most famous composer-architect 20. 20th century composer whose ‘Ionisation’ was one of the first works for percussion ensemble 21. Legendary ‘gypsy’ guitarist 22. Amount of symphonies written by Ravel 23. Poet whose works inspired Debussy, amongst others 25. His ‘Pli Selon Pli’ is based on the poetry of 23 across 26. Often, 8 across was depicted with one of these Down 1. Recently deceased comic artist 2. Perhaps the most famous organist-composer of his nation 3. Film-maker and artist who brought together composers such as 11 down 5. First name of 10 across and 23 down 7. see 6 across 9. (Backwards) artist whose recent Sydney exhibition closes soon 11. Composer, studied with D’Indy 12. First name of Alkan (sans hyphen) 14. Site of the 17th century possessions which were the subject of a Penderecki opera 16. (Roman) number of individual ‘Gnossiennes’ and ‘Gymnopedies’ written by Satie 18. Literary gentleman thief originated by Maurice Leblanc 19. Violinist and dedicatee of a Beethoven sonata 23. Medieval poet-composer 24. Author of ‘Gargantua and Pantragruel’

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