“MUSICAL PORTRAITS” was the second of the three Australian Series program presented by the Canberra Symphony Orchestra. The concert featured baritone Michael Halliwell, Sue Newsome on clarinet and piano by David Miller.

The concert opened with Alfred Mansfield’s “For Auld Lang Syne! Australia Will be There” (1897). Halliwell’s baritone voice filled the foyer of the National Portrait Gallery with a gusto performance throughout the night, especially so in the opening song.

At times, some of the loud and upbeat music gave the effect of being in a rowdy bar during wartime, filled with servicepeople drinking and laughing away their circumstances. At other times, with songs like “Soldier, Soldier”, from Percy Grainger (1907), it was a haunting sound with its under-the-breath performance from the baritone in the opening lines of each verse: “Soldier, soldier come from the wars”.

From the early wartime songs we quickly jumped ahead 100-years with the piece, “Firefly” for solo clarinet, written by Australian composer Jane Stanley. The title of this concert “Musical Portraits”, was clearly reflected in this work. It offered a musical representation of a firefly. So clearly was a firefly depicted with the fluttering on the clarinet, it was easy to picture the insect flitting around.

Ross Edwards’ work, “The Tower of Remoteness” (1979), lived up to its name. A dissonant and staccato filled piece, was also imbued with many well-balanced silences. The sharp fortissimo clusters, high up in the treble of the piano startled at times. This work used the full range of the piano and the high-pitched notes on the clarinet spoke out the sound of a remote loneliness.

This concert was conceived by Prof Matthew Hindson, Australian composer and head of composition at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He spoke after the Edwards’ work and introduced composer Alice Humphries, whose piece “About Light”, we heard next. Alice talked about the inspiration for her work, which were the portraits in the 2017 National Photographic Portrait Prize.

She drew inspiration from the use of light in photography as the idea to create her work for baritone, bass clarinet and piano. Humphries created a text for her work from things she had read on the internet about how light works, and how it is used in photography.

The piano and bass clarinet opened the work with a droning-styled texture and soon after the baritone entered. The combination of the instruments and voice created a moving sound. The piano interspersing through the deep tones of the bass clarinet and the clear, strong voice of the baritone. A resilient and interesting work by this Melbourne-based composer.

“And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda”, by Eric Bogle ended the concert. This was arranged for piano, clarinet and baritone by composer Calvin Bowman. It was an unusual but effective arrangement. The harsh images in Bogle’s song were matched by the unique setting of this moving song that depicts the futility of war.

All three performers handled the works well. They went from early Australian songs to present day compositions with ease, and did it with great feeling, style and clarity.