The Advocates

score available from Wise Music program note This short vocal work was written at the invitation of Michael Easton and Len Vorster who asked some composers to set words by British poet Robert Graves. I selected The Advocates – a text in which the poet asks a perfect landscape of trees through which he is … Read more

The Pearl-budded Sea

score available from Wise Music program note This song is taken from The Parrot Factory, an opera for all ages in 1 act, completed in 2010 to a libretto by Ross Baglin. In scene 6, Gina reveals her fears for her husband Jimmy, who is out of his depth dealing in the black market. text … Read more

Three Songs of Sleep

Spotify CD available Mercurial Larissa Cairns (soprano), Patrick Lawrence (piano) Reed Music Repose Linda Thompson (soprano), Deviani Segal (piano) Move Digital (Lullaby only) score available from Wise Music program note i. Late Autumn Lullaby ii. Lullaby from ‘Nelson’ iii. Balloon Ride These lullabies were written for Linda Thompson and Deviani Segal. They were not initially … Read more

Angelus

score available from Wise Music program note Angelus was written in 1988 to text by Australian poet, Ross Baglin, with whom the composer frequently collaborates. The text refers back in time to the story of a woman’s illicit pregnancy and ambiguous implications of this within the society of her time. This story is framed by … Read more

Columns of Rain

YouTube excerpt score available from Wise Music review “The Bridges Collective worked as a mobile ensemble, at one point in Stuart Greenbaum’s Columns of Rain three artists performing from stairs outside the gallery – the Greenbaum scena with its atmospheric scene-setting…demonstrating a dedication to vocal and instrumental colour.” Clive O’Connell, The Age, March 2012 author’s … Read more

Four Finalities

Spotify score available from Wise Music recording available Mondrian Interiors Jessica Fotinos, ANAM ABC Classics, digital, 2015 program note i. Footsteps ii. The Thread iii. Unbroken Snow iv. An Empty Room This song cycle was written with long-time collaborator, poet Ross Baglin. In September 2009, I asked if he could write something around the theme … Read more

Letters to the Front

score available from Wise Music program note Ross Baglin’s text presents a series of 4 fictional letters written during the First World War from a young Melbourne woman to her partner fighting the war in Europe. These reflect the life and events back home from the perspective of the woman waiting. They are framed by … Read more

One Day

/ 057 CD available Madrugada Jeannie Marsh (soprano), Ken Murray (guitar), Peter Neville (percussion) Niche Records score available from Promethean Editions review “The carefully crafted pop idiom of Stuart Greenbaum’s One Day creates a work of simple beauty.” Catherine Threlfall, Boîte Winter Festival, 1999 text One day threaded like a bead Upon the string of … Read more

Opalescence

score available from Wise Music recording available Kingfisher Halcyon Tall Poppies, TP236, 2015 YouTube YouTube interview text The rain of stars within a silver glass, An angel-winged and phosphorescent mask Of stone and liquid, crackling Into inlay, acquifer of tears and spring – Foil that flickers on hummingbird wing, And in your lapidary water, Lucifer … Read more

Perspective Love Song

score available from Wise Music program note Texts written by the fictional Ern Malley have a special place in Australian cultural history. Students at the University of Melbourne have been setting his texts for a number of years and this in turn lead to an Ern Malley project which features settings by composers associated with … Read more