Australian pianist and composer Rob Hao presents a piano recital influenced by musical cultures from around the world stretching from the 13th Century to the present day.

The beginnings of the 20th Century opened the Western musical world to global cultures and Claude Debussy was one of the first composers to embrace this newfound exoticism. His piano work Estampes from 1903, explores the structures and soundscapes of Javanese gamelan music, the Arabic and Spanish world as well as folk music from his native France. Debussy’s work is preceded by the first complete performance of the performer’s work Songwriting – a collection of miniatures which take inspiration from nursery rhymes, Chinese folk music and various facets of Australian music-making.

Concluding the concert is British composer Michael Finnissy’s Violet, Slingsby, Guy and Lionel which takes inspiration from Edward Lear’s story with the same four characters and explores historical music from around the world which is now largely extinct from the Western canon, including Sri Lankan folk music, Persian vocal music, pre-Renaissance Western plainchant and much, much more.

Programme:
Hao – Songwriting (2021 – premiere)
Debussy – Estampes (1903)
Finnissy – Violet, Slingsby, Guy and Lionel (1996/2021)