Oom, pa-pah!
The Waltz Book on CD

September 2010. Ian Munro's studio recording of The Waltz Book is finally available on CD (Tall Poppies TP209). The 60 one-minute waltzes were commissioned by Munro in 1998 and composed over the following four years. Some of the individual waltzes were premiered as soon as they were composed, but Munro gave the complete premiere of the work in Hobart in March 2003. Since then a dozen other pianists have taken up all or some of the work, playing it in Canada, Finland, Poland, the United States, the United Kingdom and throughout Australia. The new recording, a tour de force, was made in Sydney at the City Recital Hall, Angel Place, and Tall Poppies have released the CD, together with a bonus data disc containing a video interview with the composer and PDFs of 10 of the waltzes for printing out and playing.

> Order this CD through the Australian Music Centre - scores of The Waltz Book, 10 easy waltzes from The Waltz Book and 10 more easy waltzes from The Waltz Book also available.
> Order this CD through Buywell
> Watch an interview about The Waltz Book - part 1 & part 2 (YouTube)

Illegal Harmonies back
in print

October 2011. Coinciding with the republication of Andrew Ford's book Illegal Harmonies by Black Inc., in a revised third edition, ABC Classic FM is currently rebroadcasting the original radio series each Sunday lunchtime until the end of November. First heard in 1997, the radio version of Illegal Harmonies consists of ten 90-minute episodes, each covering the music of one decade in the 20th century. The series can also be streamed from ABC Classic FM.

> Listen to episodes online
> Buy Illegal harmonies from Readings (Melbourne)

 

Tahu Rhodes and WASO
premiere new work
with Tim Winton's words

March 2010. The gala opening concert of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra's 2010 season began with the world premiere of a newly commissioned vocal piece by Andrew Ford.
Read more...

 

Freud's
final hours
on CD

Decca Eloquence has released on CD Andrew Ford’s music-theatre piece, Night and Dreams: the death of Sigmund Freud.
> Read more.
> Buy the CD (Buywell).

 

A wide selection of CDs with music by Andrew Ford is available from the Buywell online CD store. For a full list of CDs, please see also the CD subpage.

 

 

 

Tracks and books
at iTunes

January 2012.
Most of Andrew Ford's commercially recorded music and two of his books are now available as downloads at iTunes. All four Tall Poppies albums (Whispers, Harbour, Icarus and The Waltz Book) are there, together with individual pieces from Tall Poppies and ABC Classics and international releases including d'amore and The Tears of Geertje Dircx. You can also download Ford's latest book, The Sound of Pictures and the new edition of Illegal Harmonies. And if you're not sure, start with the free samples.

 

 

Andrew Ford in the historic band room
in Queensbury.

Premiere of Black Dyke
Band Commission

November 2010. The world-famous Black Dyke Band will give the first performance of Andrew Ford's The Rising at Manchester's annual Festival of Brass on 28 January 2011. Commissioned by Black Dyke, The Rising is Ford's first work for brass band and was inspired by the terrifying natural phenomenon of Australian bush fires. The composer will attend the premiere at the Royal Northern College of Music, which will be conducted by Black Dyke's Principal Conductor and Director of Music, Dr Nicholas Childs. In March 2010, Andrew Ford visited Black Dyke's headquarters in Queensbury, West Yorkshire, to see the historic band room for himself. In rehearsal, the band still uses the original wooden music stands made for it 155 years ago.

> Read a program note of The Rising.

 

The Scattering of Light
for the University
of Queensland

November 2010. The climax of the Centenary celebrations of the University of Queensland will be the first performance of Andrew Ford's new piano quartet, The Scattering of Light. Commissioned by the University of Queensland in honour of its first hundred years, the 15-minute quartet was written especially for the University's new ensemble in residence. The Scattering of Light will be heard for the first time on December 10 at the University's Senate Dinner. Further (public) performances will follow in 2011.

> Read a program note of The Scattering of Light.

 

Some of Andrew Ford's books are no longer available in bookshops. Contact Andrew directly to purchase a copy of In Defence of Classical Music or Speaking in Tongues - the Songs of Van Morrison (AUD 25 + postage). For a full list of books, please see the Books subpage.