Music / Sleeping Stories, CSO Australian Series. Gandel Atrium, National Museum of Australia, March 20. Reviewed by NICK HORN.

The Canberra Symphony Orchestra Chamber Ensemble brought new Australian music evoking sleeping stories and memories to the atrium of the National Museum.

Jessica Cottis, conductor and artistic director of the ensemble and the CSO, presented a fine program of short pieces by five Australian composers. Three works were commissioned to receive their premiere in the program.

Led by Kirsten Williams, on violin, the ensemble’s performance was outstanding, as was the contribution of the two flute soloists (Kiri Sollis and Sally Walker). A wonderful balance – nuanced, conversational, swelling romantically on occasion – was achieved for each piece, with committed playing by all.

Peggy Polias’ inspirations for Cameo (premiered here) were fragmented blue and white glass cameos in the NMA Pompeii exhibition depicting Ariadne and Dionysus. A thread of vibrating strings – Ariadne’s twine – and echoing calls and responses led us through the minotaur’s labyrinth. An inserted “blues” relieved the tension, reflecting the layering of the cameos. Muttered Latin poetry evoked the smothering ash of Vesuvius.

Jane Sheldon’s Spectre: three attempts to summon her was performed by Kiri Sollis on amplified bass flute, with pre-recorded flute multiphonics from a composition by the late Kaija Saariaho, object of the attempted summons. The high-pitched multiphonic shards and warm answering phrases of the low-pitched bass flute twisted together to hover high above us in the atrium. Presence within an absence, a sleeping ghost story.

The second premiere, Alice Chance’s Iuvenia, summoned fantastic stories from Japan and Ireland of eternal youth, woven together with a pentatonic folk melody. Chance’s composition drew a lush, romantic string sound from the ensemble, complete with fairytale harp flourishes. Nostalgia for a lost idyll was evoked hauntingly at the end with the stasis of a repeated rising phrase.

We then heard Nardi Simpson’s Wilga’s Last Dance (last melody of the area), re-imagining a 1979 song recorded at Lightning Ridge, in Simpson’s Yuwaalaraay country.

Originally scored for saxophone quartet, the piece was played by the ensemble in a more effective arrangement for flute, clarinet, vibraphone and cello, with the different instrumental timbres bringing out the interplay between the parts. A nicely balanced performance by the ensemble, rhythmically driven by the cello, revived the old song with a sprightly spirit.

For the final work, Christopher Sainsbury’s Concertino for Flute – a third premiere – Sally Walker joined the ensemble as soloist. Sainsbury’s composition (like Simpson’s) originated in an almost forgotten song from his ancestors. The song’s presence is summonsed by the “rhythm and contour” of the Dharug word for dolphin, “barru waluri”. String harmonics, dolphin clicks and syncopated melody provided an effective counterpoint for Walker’s lyrical line (particularly evocative in the first movement, with the rich sound of the alto flute).

The ensemble developed a strong rocking, ocean rhythm, building at the end of each movement towards a dramatic moment as the musicians together held still, frozen in time.