Serum Melbourne

Carl Vine AO is one of Australia's best known and most frequently performed composers, with an impressive orchestral catalogue featuring eight symphonies and 13 concertos.

Carl Vine AO is one of Australia's best known and most frequently performed composers, with an impressive orchestral catalogue featuring eight symphonies and 13 concertos.

Carl Vine AO is one of Australia's best known and most frequently performed composers, with an impressive orchestral catalogue featuring eight symphonies and 13 concertos.

Charles Ives composed his first two symphonies between 1897 and 1902, but they weren't performed until a half-century later, when Leonard Bernstein premiered the Symphony No. 2 in 1951, and Richard Bales conducted the Symphony No. 1 in 1953. The contrasts between the two symphonies are striking, since the First was a student work, composed in emulation of the European tradition, while the Second was more idiosyncratic in the use of hymn tunes, folk songs, and other Americana, all developed in a freewheeling manner that reflected Ives' eclectic musical upbringing. This 2015 hybrid SACD by Andrew Davis and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is a straightforward presentation of both works, side-by-side, and their differences are highlighted in the styles of playing.