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QYC CD Recordings
Colours of Christmas (2007)
Queensland Youth Choir
Jason Barry-Smith and Simon Gallaher
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Colours of Christmas -Craig Allister Young
O Holy Night - Trad. arr. Alan Slater
Six White Boomers - Rolf Harris
O Tannenbaum - Trad. arr. Bohn
Walking in the Air - Blake arr. Snyder
Golden Kangaroo - Valentine
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - Marks
When Christmas Comes to Town - Silvestri
The Christmas Tree - James
Let it Snow / Winter Wonderland - arr. Billingsley
Carol of the Bells - Leontovich
There is no Rose - Britten
Blue Christmas - Hayes arr. Mac Huff
Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) - Torme arr. Snyder
See the Baby Boy - Sandra Milliken
Angels Keep Rejoicing - Holk
African Noel - Kaufmann
The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy - Trad. arr. Hatfield
Bambino - Springfield
Red and Green Christmas - Nadia Cattouse |
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CD - $15.00 Australian (plus $2.20 postage and handling within Australia)
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The Bilbies' Lament (2006)
Queensland Youth Choir
Musical Director: Sandra Milliken
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The Bilbies' Lament - Sandra Milliken / Frank Manthey
I am Australian - Woodley/Newton arr. Kathy Hirche
The Diamantina Drover - Hugh McDonadl arr. Sandra Milliken
Down Under - Strykert/Hay arr. Kathy Hirche
The Bilbies' Lament - second version |
This recording was produced by the Queensland Youth Choir, as part of its community service program, to raise funds for the Save the Bilby Fund. We are indebted to the professional artists and production personnel who provided their services free of charge for this project.
Each of the included songs has a special significance in relation to saving the bilby. The words for The Bilbies’ Lament were written by Frank Manthey, one of the “Bilby Brothers” who co-founded the Save the Bilby Fund, and set to music by Sandra Milliken, the Artistic Director of the Queensland Youth Choir. I am Australian — how true of the bilby! Here since the Dreamtime, part of the spirit of this great land and part of the dream we should all share. The Diamantina Drover is a favourite of the other Bilby Brother, Peter McRae, who has spent many years researching the bilby on the banks of the Diamantina River at Astrebla Downs, the only known remaining wild habitat for bilbies in eastern Australia. Down Under was the theme song of the “Australia II” America’s Cup challenge and came to represent the triumph of the Australian spirit in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds — an achievement duplicated by Frank and Peter in the establishment of the bilby captive breeding program and the completion of the “saviour fence” at Currawinya National Park.
All proceeds from the sale of this recording go to support the Save the Bilby Fund.
CD - $10.00 Australian (plus $2.20 postage and handling within Australia)
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New Leaves (2005)
Queensland Youth Choir (VoiceWorks and Vivace Voices)
Artistic Director: Sandra Milliken
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Gawura - Dan Walker
Bora Ring - Sandra Milliken / Judith Wright
Three Australian Bush Songs - Iain Grandage
Sesere Eeye - trad. Torres Strait Islands
Waiting for the Sun - Sandra Milliken / Melinda Smith
Songs of Australia - arr. Kathy Hirche |
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Song of Australia
I Still Call Australia Home
Waltzing Matilda
I am Australian |
The Lord is My Shepherd - Jason Barry-Smith
Ave Maria - Jaakko Mäntyjävi
Kyrie - Reijo Kekkonen
On suuri sun rantas - trad. arr. Matti Hyökki
Rock Song - Sandra Milliken
Banana - trad. Torres Strait Islands
The Colonial Boys - arr. Kathy Hirche |
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The Black Velvet Band
Shores of Botany Bay
Clancy of the Overflow
Click Go the Shears
The Wild Colonial Boy
The Old Palmer Song |
| Down Under - Strykert/Hay arr. Kathy Hirche |
This recording was conceptualised as part of broader plans by Queensland Youth Choir to promote new Australian music and to tour four European countries in the winter of 2005-06. The recording was seen as a means of leaving some small element of the Australian music culture behind us in Finland, Estonia, Sweden and England, as well as being an opportunity to bring a vibrant, youthful approach to a selection of new and traditional Australian music.
The result is an eclectic mix of works by Australian composers and arrangers that have been commissioned by, or written specially for, the Queensland Youth Choir; have been arranged specifically for us; or have not previously been widely recorded in Australia.
Two arrangements were commissioned especially for the recording. We wanted to include new arrangements of a selection of traditional Australian folk music as well as feature those songs that are almost universally recognised as being quintessentially Australian — I Still Call Australia Home, Waltzing Matilda and I am Australian.
While Queensland Youth Choir is passionate about the performance and promotion of Australian music, we also recognise the immense repertoire of choral music that exists worldwide. The choir consequently enjoys exploring a wide variety of choral genres and traditions, as well as facing the challenges of singing in languages other than English. We have therefore chosen to include three Finnish pieces on this recording in order to add just a little more variety to the mix!
CD - $22.00 Australian (plus $2.20 postage and handling within Australia)
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MISA CRIOLLA, Navidad Nuestra (2004)
Jason Barry-Smith (soloist)
Walisuma de los Andes (Latin American instrumentals)
Queensland Youth Choir
Musical Director: Sandra Milliken
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MISA CRIOLLA (Creole Mass) - Ariel Ramirez |
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Kyrie (vidala-baguala)
Gloria (carnavalito-yaravi)
Credo (chacarera trunca)
Sanctus (carnaval cochabambino)
Agnus Dei (estilo pampeano) |
Navidad Nuestra (Our Christmas) - Ariel Ramirez / Felix Luna |
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La Anunciacion (chamame)
La Peregrinacion (huella pampeana)
El Nacimiento (vidala catamarquena)
Los Pastores (chaya riojana)
Los Reyes Magos (takirari)
La Huida (vidala tucumana) |
| The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy -
Trad. arr. Stephen Hatfield |
| Bambino -
Tom Springfield |
This CD features two major works by the contemporary Argentinean composer Ariel Ramirez. Written for soloist, mixed chorus, traditional Andean instruments and harpsichord or piano, our recording features QYC ensembels VoiceWorks and Vivace Voices, Jason Barry-Smith as soloist and the traditional instruments of Walisuma de los Andes, with Michelle Muirhead on piano and Pat Marchisella on double bass.
The Misa Criolla is a setting of the Mass, in Spanish, in which Ramirez has used dance rhythms from South American folk music, producing a synthesis of popular and liturgical styles. Particularly prominent are the rhythms and melodies of Argentina. The opening Kyrie is a vidala-baguala, the Gloria, a carnavalito-yaravi. The chacarera trunca is the basis of the Credo while one of the most beautiful Bolivian folk rhythms, the carnaval cochabambino, is used for the Sanctus. The Agnus Dei is written in a typical style of the pampas – estilo pampeano.
In spite of its profound seriousness, the Misa Criolla breathes an unmistakably South American spirit and appeals to its listeners by virtue of its riveting rhythms, tuneful melodies and infectious exchanges between soloist and chorus. It has won unprecedented admiration and critical acclaim throughout South America and across the world.
The Navidad Nuestra, a collaboration between Ramirez and the poet Félix Luna, is a cantata-like series of songs that relates the nativity of Jesus Christ using the rhythms and traditions of Hispanic America.
Each movement features a distinctive regional voice that enhances the story of the events leading up to and subsequent to the birth of Christ. The grace of the chamame is used for the announcement to Mary, while the vibrant rhythm of the chaya riojana tells of the arrival of the shepherds, and the haunting vidala tucumana depicts the flight of the family into Egypt. The result is a creation of beautiful and inspirational musical episodes.
CD - $22.00 Australian (plus $2.20 postage and handling within Australia)
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Do You Hear the Children Singing? (1998)
Queensland Children's Choir (now StellaVoce)
Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra
Musical Director: Rhonda Coady
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Do You Hear the Children Singing?
On a Queensland Railway Line
Queensland Folk Song Suite
Botany Bay
Wind Song
Song of the Gum Tree
The Choir that Tried
Stew!
A Very Boring Man
Blessing |
In 1998, with this collection of largely traditional and original Australian music, the Queensland Children's Choir (QCC) celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Former Queensland Youth Choir members Craig Allister Young and David Kidd accepted the commission to produce some special choral music to mark a decade of excellence by the QCC. The result - Forgotten Folklore - is a unique musical treat of distinctive Australian humour blended with a score that perfectly suits the pure fresh tones of young Australian voices.
The choir takes very seriously its responsibility to present Queensland and Australian music and has balanced the levity of Forgotten Folklore with a new setting of traditional folk songs, together with the beautiful Song of the Gum Tree, backed by the wonderful sounds of the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra. The title track is another jewel from the pen of Craig and David featuring the writers' own voices. This moving tribute to our fallen soldiers was based on the inspired words of the famous Australian bush poet Henry Lawson.
The marvellous On a Queensland Railway Line takes us on a musical journey through some tongue-twisting stations and sidings as we recall the Centenary of Queensland Rail. Rounding out the collection, the hauntingly beautiful Wind Song, written some forty years ago for another group of young Queensland voices, takes its place alongside a rollicking rendition of the evergreen Botany Bay. Finally, in keeping with a long-standing tradition, the children finish this performance with their own special Blessing.
CD - $22.00 Australian (plus $2.20 postage and handling within Australia)
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