Julian Philips: Turning Fifty

Description

Turning Fifty is a set of five songs for baritone, cello and harp that set the poetry of Australian poet Judith Wright. The poetic world is private, domestic even, all five texts reflecting on moments of everyday lived experience: breath in the night air, a parent musing on their sleeping child, a significant birthday, all five poems informed with a heightened sensitivity for the transience of life and the cruelty of Time. The musical world is predominantly gentle and intimate, the vocal style often sotto voce, with the cello acting as an instrumental double to the voice, and the harp widening the resonance of both music and text.

Turning Fifty is dedicated with affection to my friend, Chris Spice.