Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Conductor: David Porcelijn
The adage that 'good things come in threes ' certainly applies to the music of the Austrian composer Kurt Schwertsik.In a voice wholly his own,he is able to speak with acute directness to the hearts of musicians and their audiences, provoking them with a constant confrontation between past,present and future.This directness speaks for itself:Schwertsik still thinks as a musician – a professional performer well aware of both his duties and his limits.After all, he was – until his appointment as professor in composition at the Vienna University of Music – the Wiener Symphoniker 's second horn player. His pieces are tonality-driven,yet unmistakably contemporary. - Extract from booklet notes by Luc Knoedler.
Tracklisting:
KURT SCHWERTSIK (b. 1935)
Irdische Klänge (Earthly Sounds)
Symphonie in zwei Sätzen, Op. 37 (1980)
1. Andante
2. Allegretto

Der irdischen Klänge 2. Teil (Earthly Sounds, Part 2)
Fünf Naturstücke (Five Nature Pieces), Op. 45 (1984)
3. I Wind (Wind)
4. II Donner (Thunder)
5. III Regen (Rain)
6. IV Wasser (Water)
7. V Vogel (Bird)

Das Ende der irdischen Klänge (The End of Earthly Sounds)
8. Mit den Riesenstiefeln (With Heavy Tread), Op. 60 (1991)
Inmitten der irdischen Klänge (In the Midst of Earthly Sounds)
9. Uluru, Op. 64 (1992)

Baumgesänge (Tree Songs), Op.65 (1992)
10. Breit gesungen (Cantabile, ma pesante)
11. Lebhaft, aggressiv (Vivace)
12. Bleischwer (Molto pesante)
13. Sehr gedehnt (Allargare il tempo)
14. Beweglich (Poco rubato)
15. Lebhaft, aggressiv (Vivace)
Recorded 28-31 March, 27, 28 July 1995 at the Adelaide Town Hall, South Australia.
Released 2004.