"Australian Symphony"

New Zealand Listener, Volume 16, Issue 407, 11 April 1947, Page 20

"Australian Symphony"

Lindley Evans (who with Frank Hutchens forms.a celebrated two-piano team which visited New Zealand last year) read a few years ago a poem by his unrelated namesake, the pioneer Australian poet, George Essex Evans. The poem, "An Australian Symphony," inspired the composer to write under the same title a vivid work for chorus and orchestra which has won the 1946 award made by the Australian Performing Rights Association for the best composition of the year. Australian Symphony, scored fowgfull orchestra and chorus, takes 25 minutes to perform. Despite its title, the work is not written in symphonic form, Lindley Evans has used the words of the poem in the choral parts, catching in his music its patriotic spiritHer inspiration is her own. ae: From sunlit plains to mangrove strands Not as the song of other lands Her song shall be Australian Symphony originally attracted the interest of public and critics when it won the Australian Broadcasting Commission’s first contest for composition. Shortly afterwards the composer Zz HE = Australian composer

conducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in the first performance of the work in Australia, at the Sydney Town Hall. Now, with A.P.R.A.’s_ further recognition of its merit, Austra{ian Symphony is to be published, and possibly recorded. Although it was written for full orchestra, the unusual character of the work makes it suitable for performance by small choral societies with piano only. Lindley Evans is Professor of Piano at the New South Wales Conservatorium of. Music, Sydney, and with his friend and colleague Frank Hutchens forms a two-piano team well known for its broadcasts, recordings and concert work. He .has had published a number of works, including piano solos and songs. One unusual composition is the "Idyll for Two Pianos and Qrchestra,"’ which he wrote especially for a performance by Frank Hutchens and himself with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. They later recorded the work. Evans has also written film music. He was commissioned to write the incidental music for Charles Chauvel’s successful Australian film 40,000 Horsemen, and has composed for documentary films made by the Australian National Film Board.