We had a chat with Australian composer, Matthew Orlovich, as our Featured Composer for June.

 

You studied Music Composition at the University of Sydney under Prof Eric Gross and Prof Peter Sculthorpe – what drew you to composing?

I think it was my love of playing music “by ear” that led me to composing. I started improvising at a young age with my toy glockenspiel, squeeze-box, ukulele and harmonica. During my school years, I took piano lessons and joined ensembles such as recorder groups, choirs and bands. I liked making music with a Tascam Portastudio 4-track tape recorder. I’d record myself playing various instruments one track at a time, and then listen to them layered together. By the time I finished high school, I was composing full- length compositions and was keen to explore that further, so I enrolled at Sydney University for tertiary music studies.
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What is one of your proudest achievements or one of your highlight moments as a composer?

This year, I’ll have been composing for 35 years, so I’m proud to have reached this milestone in my career. I feel grateful for the opportunity to continue creating new compositions for choristers and instrumentalists, both in Australia and overseas. To date, the highlight moments for me have always been the premieres, especially those at which I’ve had the privilege to spend time with the performers. Such occasions include the Australian Intervarsity Choral Festivals where music-making and conviviality always seemed to effortlessly intertwine.

What are some of the challenges these days as a composer?

Today, composers must be adept at wearing many different hats, each serving a distinct purpose: the technological hat for navigating music software and hardware, the grant- writing hat to secure funding, the publicity/socials hat to engage with audiences, and often, an additional hat such as the self-publishing hat or the music tutoring hat, to assist in sustaining their careers.

You write a lot of music for choirs. What do you enjoy most about writing for voice?

I enjoy the art of marrying text and music together, especially in an orchestral sort of way. When you consider all the possible emotions that can be expressed in a choir piece and the infinite ways in which to score the voices, there is a lot about it for a composer to love. There is also often the chance to collaborate, or connect in some way, with the author of the text. I recently set music to a fantastic poem by Reverend John Dunmore Lang (1799-1878) and, throughout the composing process, I felt an intangible presence, a sense that he was looking over my shoulder! It was as if he was observing my efforts with curiosity, yet providing gentle encouragement.

What are some themes you try to incorporate into your music?

I’ve always lived by the sea, and I think the sea has managed to find its way into many of my choral scores, such as “Communion of Reparation (for Our Lady of Sorrows)”, “Tides of Ocean”, “Voice of the River”, “Lo, there is light!”, “Calm the waves of this heart” and “Sonnet, to the comet of 1825”. In other choral pieces like “Araluen”, “The Blue Gum Forest”, “Links” and “The Listening Land”, I shift my focus towards somehow evoking the extraordinary beauty of Australia’s landscapes. My music tends to follow my interests. I’ve made music out of journals and field books of Australian artists and explorers. From time to time, I’ve also write music about flying things, such as aeroplanes, helicopters and butterflies. If I see a choral text that aligns with one of my interests, then it gets bookmarked and put in the queue for possible setting!

What do you think best describes the Australian choral sound?

I would describe the Australian choral sound as kaleidoscopic, because it’s beautifully evolving. There’s sometimes an atmospheric or onomatopoeic quality to it and at other times, a strong sense of physicality. Some time ago, a conductor of The Harvard University Choir told me that he heard in my score (“Lo, there is light!”) an “athleticism” which he felt was distinctly Australian!

Your piece “Tides of Ocean” has been very popular, particularly in the last couple of years. It’s also the featured piece in the upcoming “Over Oceans” concert by the Brisbane Chamber Choir and Singapore Singers! What inspired that piece, and what do you hope listeners (and singers!) hear in it?

I am really happy to know it’s on the programme! I was commissioned to write this unaccompanied SATB piece back in 1998 for The Australian Voices to perform on tour, so I looked for a text about travelling. Victor Carell’s poem “Tides of Ocean” was my choice for it described a voyage and included mention of things like crashing waves, the beautiful southern cross constellation and night birds in a flowing lane. It also conveyed the sense of exhilaration that accompanies a much anticipated homecoming. The piece is 25 years old this year, and it remains one of my favourite creations. Singers and listeners might be interested to know that the “up and down” vocal glissandi were inspired by my time spent playing Central Javanese music as a student member of Sydney University’s Gamelan Kyai Kebo Giro.

Do you listen to music much? Who are some of your favourite Australian composers?

I do listen to music whenever I get the chance. I always have a tune in my head. I am pretty self-sufficient, though, and I will usually just improvise up a storm on the piano when I need something to listen to! As for my music diet, I always love to hear what Australian composers are creating. I don’t shy away from anything and like to supplement my classical listening tendencies with jazz, pop, reggae, experimental, noise, muzak, rap, country, western, music from different regions of the world, you name it… I like to think I can find something interesting in everything!