Over the last 20 years we have met and come to know a wonderful collection of composers and presented their music in galleries, recital and concert halls, private homes, educational institutions, at festivals and award ceremonies and in the studio.
Since 1998 Halcyon has championed new contemporary vocal chamber music, forging connections with composers both here and across the globe, in the search for the best of new contemporary chamber music for voice. The ensemble has commissioned, performed and recorded works by many highly esteemed Australian composers.
It’s wonderful to work alongside living composers, and we are privileged to have brought to life extraordinary new pieces by some of the best contemporary writers of vocal music, in addition to staging international masterworks such as George Crumb’s Ancient Voices of Children, Berio’s Folksongs, Kaija Saariaho’s Grammaire des Reves, Unsuk Chin’s Akrostichon-Wortspiel, Steve Reich’s Tehillim, Trevor Wishart’s Vox II, Claude Vivier's Bouchara, Györgi Ligeti’s Sippál, Dobbál, Nádihegedüvel…. and many more. Follow the links below to find out more about the composers, the works and the performances, and to buy/listen to the tracks themselves.
Performed Repertoire
C = Commissioned WP = World Premiere AP = Australian Premiere
Australian Composers
International Composers
| Name | Title | Type | Instrumentation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adamcyk | Avant la larme (2006) | AP | s, sax, pf, electronics |
| Adès | Court Studies from The Tempest (2005) | AP | cl, vln, vc, pf |
| Aho | Rakkaus on Musta Leijona (2003) | AP | 2 s, 2 ms |
| Andrew | luna-cy (2001) | AP | 2 s, ms |
| Andrew | Criosda liom a cadal (2006) | AP | ms, mixed choir |
| Andrew | hammock (2008) | AP | ms, vc |
| Andrew | fruitsongs (2000) | AP | ms, gui |
| Andrew | The Song of Doves (2006) | AP | s, 2 ms |
| Andrew | ojo (2004/07) | AP | 2 s, ms |
| Andriessen | Die Stijl (1985) | 2 s, 2 ms, ensemble | |
| Barber | Hermit Songs (1952-3) | s, ms, pf | |
| Beamish | Buzz (1993) | AP | s, va |
| Beamish | Sonnet (1986/1998) | AP | s, fl, ca, pf |
| Bedford | Come in here child (1968) | s, pf | |
| Beeson | 2 Poems of Edna St Vincent Millay (1992) | AP | ms, pf |
| Benjamin | Upon silence (1991) | AP | ms, 2 va, 3 vc, 2 db |
| Berio | Folksongs (1964) | ms, fl, cl, 2 perc, hp, va, vc | |
| Berkeley | Typewriter Music (2014) | WP | ms, vc |
| Berkeley | Winter Fragments (1996) | AP | ms, fl/picc, ob/ca, cl/bcl, hp, vn, va, vc |
| Birtwistle | 9 Settings of Celan (1998) | AP | s, 2 cl, va, vc, db |
| Britten | Phaedra (1975) | ms, 3 perc, hpd, strings | |
| Bryars | Laude 2 from Laude Cortonese (2002-04) | s solo | |
| Bryars | Laude 17 from Laude Cortonese (2002-04) | s solo | |
| Bryars | Laude 29 from Laude Cortonese (2002-04) | s, db | |
| Bryars | Laude 7 from Laude Cortonese (2002-04) | 2 s, ms | |
| Bryars | The Adnan Songbook (1996) | AP | s, cl, gui, 2 va, vc, db |
| Cage | A Flower & The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs | s, closed piano | |
| Carter | Voyage (1943) | ms, pf | |
| Carter | Alba (1952) from Poems of Louis Zukofsky (2008) | s, cl | |
| Chin | Akrostichon-Wortspiel (1991/93) | AP | s, fl/picc/a fl, ob, cl/b cl, perc, man, hp, pf, vn, va, db |
| Copland | As it fell upon a day (1923) | s, fl, cl | |
| Corigliano | Three Irish Folksong settings (1988) | s, fl | |
| Crumb | Ancient voices of children (1970) | s, boy s, tr,ob, man, hp, 3 perc, e pf | |
| Crumb | Federico’s little songs for children (1986) | s, picc/fl/a fl/b fl, hp | |
| Crumb | Apparition (1980) | AP | s, amp pf |
| Crumb | Night of the four moons (1969) | a, a fl (picc), bjo, e vc, perc | |
| Crumb | Madrigal I (1965) | ms, db, perc | |
| Crumb | Madrigal II (1965) | ms, picc/fl/a fl, perc | |
| Debussy | Trio-sonate (1915) | fl, va, hp | |
| Debussy | Ariettes oubliées (1903) | s, pf | |
| Delage | Quatre poemes hindous (1913) | s, fl, ob, cl, bsn, pf/hp, str4t | |
| Denisov | Archipel de songes (1994) | s, a fl, vib, pf | |
| Erkoreka | Bizitza (1998) | AP | ms, fl(picc), cl, bsn, perc, vn, vc, db |
| Falla | Les colombes (1909) | ms, pf | |
| Falla | Psyché (1913) | ms, fl, hp, str trio | |
| Feldman | voices and cello (1973) | s, ms, vc | |
| Ficarra | Full Fathom Five from Submarine (2002) | AP | ms, pf, tape |
| Finnissy | Three Motets (1991/2005) | AP | s, solo vln/ s, va/ ms, vc |
| Firsova | Seven Haiku after Matsuo Basho op. 47 (1991) | AP | s, gui |
| Fujikura | Still sweet (1998) | AP | ms, a fl, va |
| Fujikura | Being as One (2013) | AP | sop, b.cl, vc |
| Gerhard | Sept Haiku (1922/58) | ms, fl, ob, cl, bsn, pf | |
| Ginastera | Punena No. 2 (1976) | vc solo | |
| Glowicka | Luminescence (2009) | AP | s, a, a, t, b, electronics |
| Glowicka | Opalescence (2006) | WP | s, s, ms, live electronics |
| Glowicka | Summer’s Day Sonnets (2000/2004) | AP | ms, str4t |
| Golijov | How slow the wind (2001) | s, st4t | |
| Gorecki | Good Night (1990) | s, a fl, pf, perc | |
| Gubaidulina | Aus den Visionen der Hildegard von Bingen (1994) | a solo | |
| Harbison | Mirabai songs (1982) | s, pf | |
| Harbison | Mirabai songs (1982) | s, a fl, b cl, perc, hp, vn, va, vc, db | |
| Harvey | Lullaby for the Unsleeping (1982) | ms, pf | |
| Harvey | Song Offerings (1985) | s, fl/afl, cl, pf, str4t, db/crot | |
| Holt | Three songs from Six Caprices (1998) | AP | ms solo |
| Hui | Lacrymosa (1996) | AP | s, cl, pf |
| Hui | 3 Longfellow songs (1985-88) | AP | ms, pf |
| Hui | Two songs on poems from Longfellow (2019 version for voice and ensemble) | WP, C | ms, fl, vc, gui, perc |
| Ibert | Deux steles orientées(1925) | s, fl | |
| Isaksson | Blad över blad (2000) | WP | s, ms, vc |
| Ives | Sunrise (1926) | ms, vln, pf | |
| James | Ophelia (2004) | AP | fl, pf |
| Kaipainen | Sonnet 43 (1994) | AP | s, pf |
| Kim | Three Poems in French (1989) | ms, str4t | |
| Kim | Now and then (1982) | s, fl, va, hp | |
| Kim | Where Grief Slumbers (1982) | s, hp, strings | |
| Knussen | Whitman Settings (1991) | s, pf | |
| Kõrvits | Moonlight, Summer Moonlight (2013) | AP | ms, vn, vc, pf |
| Lam | Amitabha (2002) | WP | s, ms, fl, cor a, vn, va |
| Larsen | Liebeslied and Do you know? AP From Beloved, thou hast brought me flowers (1994) | AP | ms, vc, pf |
| Leeuw | Song I & III from Haiku: Songs and Interludes for voice and piano (1963) | ms, pf | |
| LeFanu | The Bourne and The Swallow from Rossetti Songs | s, ms, ms | |
| LeFanu | Songs for Jane (2020 version for mezzo and cello) | WP, C | ms, vc |
| LeFanu | The Tongue and the Heart (2008) | AP | s, vc |
| Ligeti | Sippál, Dobbál, Nádihegedüvel (2000) | ms, 4 perc | |
| Lombardo | At Parting Now, Harvest Moon from Three Haiku (c.2000) | AP | ms, fl |
| Lombardo | Two Love Songs (2014) | AP | ms, va |
| Lutyens | The Valley of Hatsu-se (1965) | AP | s, fl/a fl, cl, vc, pf |
| Macmillan | Raising Sparks (1999) | ms, fl, cl, str4t, pf, hp | |
| Maconchy | Sun, Moon and Stars (1978) | s, pf | |
| Matthews | Strugnell's Haiku(1990) | s, pf | |
| McGuire | Celtic Knotwork (1994) | AP | s, s, ms |
| Messiaen | Poèmes pour mi Book 1 (1936) | s, pf | |
| Miki | Sohmon III (1988) | s, pf, perc | |
| Montsalvatge | Canciones para niños (1964) | ms, pf | |
| Panufnik | The Spirit of the Saints (2007) | s, s, ms, ms, hp | |
| Poulenc | 33 songs | v, pf | |
| Ravel | Chansons madécasses (1926) | ms, fl, vc, pf | |
| Ravel | Trois poemes de Stéphane Mallarmé (1913) | ms, picc, fl, cl, b cl, pf, str4t | |
| Reich | Music for 18 Musicians (1974-76) | s, s, ms, ms, ensemble | |
| Reich | Know What is Above You (1999) | AP | s, s, ms, ms, 2 perc |
| Reich | Daniel Variations (2006) | AP | s, s, t, t, ensemble |
| Reich | Tehillim (1981) | s, s, ms, ms, ensemble | |
| Reich | Drumming (1970-71) | s, s, ms, ensemble | |
| Rorem | Songs | ms, pf | |
| Roussel | Deux poemes de Ronsard (1924) | s, fl | |
| Saariaho | Neh och inte (1979) | AP | s,s, ms, ms |
| Saariaho | Cendres (1998) | a fl, vc, pf | |
| Saariaho | Du gick, flog (1982) | s, pf | |
| Saariaho | Grammaire des Reves (1988-89) | AP | s, ms, 2 fl, va, vc, hp |
| Saariaho | The Tempest Songbook (1993-2004) | AP | s, ms, bar, ensemble |
| Saariaho | Lonh (1996) | soprano, electronics | |
| Saariaho | Quatre messages (1999) | s, s, fl, hp | |
| Saariaho | Nuits, adieux (1991/1996) | s, a, t, b, mixed choir | |
| Saariaho | Nuits, adieux (1991/1996) | s, a, t, b, solo and electronics | |
| Salonen | Floof (1988/90) | AP | s, cl, cb cl, perc, pf, synth, vc |
| Satoh | The Heavenly Spheres are Illuminated By Lights (1979) | s, pf, perc | |
| Satoh | Homa (1988) | s, str4t | |
| Schwantner | Black Anemones(1980) | AP | s, pf |
| Schwantner | Sparrows (1978) | s, fl, cl, vn, va, vc, hp, pf, perc | |
| Stravinsky | Three Japanese Lyrics (1912-1913) | AP | s, pf |
| Stravinsky | Two poems of Konstantin Balmont (1911) | s, pf | |
| Stravinsky | Three Shakespeare songs(1953) | ms, fl, cl, va | |
| Tann | Winter Sun, Summer Rain (1986) | AP | fl, cl, va, vc, cel |
| Tann | Llef (1995) | AP | fl, vc |
| Tann | Slate, blue-gray... (2012) | AP | vn, vc, pf |
| Tavener | Akhmatova songs (1993) | AP | s, vc |
| Thurlow | Quiet Songs (2014) | AP | s, cl, hp, db |
| Tippett | Songs for Ariel (1962) | ms, pf | |
| Ung | Aura (2006) | AP | s, ms, ensemble |
| Van Parys | Three Mew Poems (2004) | AP | ms, fl, vc, pf |
| Vidales | Four Basho Haiku (2008) | AP | s, perc |
| Vivier | Bouchara (1981) | AP | s, fl, ob, cl, hn, bsn, perc, 2 vn, va, vc, db |
| Wishart | Vox 2 (1982-84) | AP | s, a, t, b, electronics |