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The Blue Gum Forest (for a cappella SATB choir and bass baritone soloist)
 
The Mercury [Tasmania, Australia]

Choir celebrates with real gems
By ELIZABETH RUTHVEN
21/07/09

... "Commissioned by the festival, Matthew Orlovich created a truly inspiring setting of The Blue Gum Forest by Roland Robinson. This masterly piece is a fine addition to Australian choral repertoire. Under Tyzack's direction, the well-balanced and articulate choir added aural tricks to convey scenes evocative of Australian landscape."

[Intervarsity Choral Festival Gala Concert; June Tyzack, conductor; Christopher Richardson, bass; Stanley Burbury Theatre, Sandy Bay, Tasmania, Australia].

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If Christ Had Been Born In Another Time... (for a cappella SATB choir); and
Nativity (for a cappella SATB choir)
 
The Canberra Times [ACT, Australia]

Carolling chorale caresses a land of dewdrops and spiderwebs
BY SARAH PARKES
22/12/2008

Christmas in Australia brings cackling kookaburras, cool drinks and hot sticky days, but we still sing about dashing through the snow and Frosty the Snowman.

Now it's time for Australia to come into its own and celebrate its own traditions, according to the Oriana Chorale.

A crowd full of children gathered at the National Museum yesterday to hear the chorale unveil four carols adapted from Australian poems by Australian composers. The result was catchy melodic tunes that represent the warm weather, native wildlife and national traditions.

Two of Michael Leunig's poems feature in the carols What Did You Get on Christmas Morn? and Christmas to settings by Melbourne composer with organist Calvin Bowman.

Sydney composer Matthew Orlovich adapted a James McAuley poem for the carol Nativity.

''McAuley's Nativity is a world of dewdrops and spiderwebs, tender snails' horns and a bare attentiveness of the heart, a world where everyday things become breathtaking and extraordinary,'' he said.

Orlovich's second carol opens with the familiar laughter of kookaburras. Adapted from a Pat Edward poem, it is called If Christ Had Been Born in Another Time.

Oriana music director Tobias Cole said he wanted to see the songs become a part of Australia's Christmas identity. ''We need to think about what is the Australian style and what captures the expanse of Australia.

''In Matthew's work there's a kind of continuum, it's very evocative, it creates an atmosphere, a spell, a kind of timelessness just by a repetition of certain things and subtle changes maybe as the cloud is moving towards the sun or there is a change in the colour of the sunset.''

Mr Cole believes the melodies will get stuck in people's heads. ''Audiences will find these pieces refreshingly accessible in harmony, rhythm and meaning. They just call out for participation.

''It's just a gradual process and it is Australia growing up and just trusting our own.''

The songs will be recorded and played on ABC radio around the country.

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Araluen (for a cappella SATB choir)

The Canberra Times [ACT, Australia]

"Top ten concerts hit all the high notes. The Oriana Chorale, conducted by former Canberran Tobias Cole, provided a concert of superior unaccompanied choral singing, titled An Australian Summer, which most effectively matched music by Australian composers with readings of poems by Australian poets."

W.L. Hoffman, writing in The Canberra Times, Times2, Tuesday, January 1, 2008.

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Crazy Logic (for alto saxophone and piano)
 
The Mercury [Tasmania, Australia]

"The first half [of the recital], devoted to the alto saxophone, included the evocative Aria by Eugene Bozza, a neglected 20th-century French composer; some beautiful technical studies by Koechlin; and the compelling Crazy Logic by Australian Matthew Orlovich."

(Elizabeth Ruthven reviewing "Vivaldi to Now", a recital by Jabra Latham [sax] and Karen Smithies [piano] given on Saturday 22 September, 2007 at Epsom House, Pontville, Tas. [The Mercury, Thursday 27 September, 2007, page 16]).

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Lo, there is light! (for a cappella SATB choir)
 
American Record Guide

Sir William Harris's "Bring Us, O Lord God", "Lauds" from George Dyson's "Three Songs of Praise", and a spunky "Lo, there is light!" from Australian composer Matthew Orlovich were high points for me.

(Philip Greenfield reviewing "Lo, there is light!" [Pro Organo CD 7085] featuring The Harvard University Choir, directed by Murray Forbes Somerville. American Record Guide; July/August 2001, Volume 64, No.4, page 255).

American Record Guide

The program notes for this release insist that modern choral music is alive and well, and I'm inclined to agree based on this music. Charles Callahan's "Magnificat" is thrilling, and I like Matthew Orlovich's "Lo, there is light". The choir is very good, if not world-class. ...
 
(David Reynolds reviewing "Lo, there is light!" [Pro Organo CD 7085] featuring The Harvard University Choir, directed by Murray Forbes Somerville. American Record Guide; May/June 1998, Volume 61, No.3, page 242).

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Links (for a cappella SATB choir)
 
Courier-Mail [Brisbane, Australia]

In a night of bonuses, young Sydney composer Matthew Orlovich also came to hear the premiere of his choral cycle "Links", with texts by West Australian poet John Kinsella, in which Orlovich explored exotic, biting rhythms to drive his exciting patterns of sound, with a sprinkling of onomatopoeic effects.
 
(Patricia Kelly, reviewing the 51st Intervarsity Choral Festival concert [Saturday July 15th 2000], The Courier-Mail, Monday July 17, 2000, p.21).

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The Listening Land (for a cappella SATB choir)

The Age [Melbourne, Australia]

Further enlivened by [Graham] Abbott's precise, energetic direction, the chorale gave good accounts of Stephen Leek's Into the Dreaming and Matthew Orlovich's The Listening Land. Both these works, along with Michael Bertling's Breathing Time, conducted by [Paul R.] Curtis, show that contemporary Australian choral music is able to address issues such as the environment in ways that do not alienate performers or listeners.

(Tony Way, reviewing The Melbourne Chorale Concert, The Age, Tuesday July 1, 1997).
 
The Herald-Sun [Melbourne, Australia]

[... the programme] also provided the zenith in the form of Matthew Orlovich's The Listening Land. The choir, under regular conductor Graham Abbott, coherently displayed the score's multi - faceted nature. This superb work could easily become an Australian classic.

(Joel Crotty, reviewing The Melbourne Chorale Concert, The Herald Sun, Tuesday July 1, 1997).
 
The Australian [National]

 To his credit, Orlovich's gently persuasive work was one of the highlights of the night. The composer has pitched his vocals beautifully in this short and evocative work for six - part unaccompanied choir.

(Jeremy Vincent reviewing The Melbourne Chorale Concert, The Australian, Friday July 4,1997).

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Aviation and Araluen (for a cappella SATB choir)

Courier Mail [Brisbane]

... The Australian Voices directed by Stephen Leek glided smoothly through shifting harmonies, their choral tone clean and clear, perfectly integrated, with never a sound out of place or line, as demonstrated in Nigel Butterley's "Exultate Domino", which he recently revived for them. They also premiered "Breath" by former AV singer Kathryn Reeves, written in response to the death of a close friend, "The Elements" by James Madsen, and Matthew Orlovich's "Aviation".

... The [St Peters] Chorale's broad, soft vocal texture is enhanced by some really growling bass potential. Under Graeme Morton's direction, its sharp vocal skill was measured in clever compositions by Ian Grandage, Orlovich, Jacqueline Atherton and Leek.

(Patricia Kelly: No Sound Like Home - Eighth Australian Voices Festival, Thursday 10th May 2001, The Conservatorium Theatre, Queensland Conservatorium, Brisbane).

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Tides of Ocean (for a cappella SATB choir)

Univesity of Sydney [Uni News]
International edition - 11 October 2002

FRESH AUSSIE SOUND A WINNER IN EUROPE



Caption: "Tides of applause after Tides of Ocean: The Conservatorium Chamber Choir during the Bartok Competition heats in Hungary."

"The Sydney Conservatorium Chamber Choir was "delighted and thrilled", said Choir director Neil McEwan, to carry away several prizes from the prestigious Bela Bartok International Choir Competition and the Vienna International Youth Music Festival during their tour of Hungary, Austria and Germany in July.

At the Bartok competition in Debrecen, Hungary, the choir won third place in the chamber choir section after choirs from Finland and Hungary, as well as first place in the folk music section when they performed music by contemporary Australian composers including Matthew Orlovich's evocative Tides of Ocean and Ian Cooper's version of Waltzing Matilda.

More success came when the choir won first place and the Grand Special Prize for the choral section of the Vienna Festival and was presented with a cup and awards from the city of Vienna – "a wonderful boost for us," Mr McEwan said.

The response to the choir from other choristers and the audience was also very positive, he said. "What so intrigued them about us was our sound which is quite different from the European sound, less operatic and more in the English style. It was absolutely clear and blended and people said they found it very refreshing."

The Australian Voices Christmas Concert

... Formed in 1993, The Australian Voices, are a group of unprofessional singers, aged between 16 and 23, the creation of composer-choral magician Stephen Leek, whose inspirational direction lights up every expression on their vibrant young faces. On this occasion the choir comprised 8 women and 12 men. Balance, phrasing and intonation were equally true and effortless - most of the choral items were delivered from memory - even if some of the group's signature oomph and rhythmic verve were swallowed by the acoustic. These qualities return in abundance in the group's latest and sixth CD, Sea Children, now released on its own label TAV-006. Another all-Australian program, its progam has thrilled concert audiences in recent years. Paul Stanhope's kaleidoscopic Geography Songs and the spunky Tides of Ocean by Matthew Orlovich are featured alongside Stephen Leek's Verticle Blue, settings of the Slessor Five Bells poems, surely as much an Australian classic as their text.

(Vincent Plush : The Australian Voices Christmas Concert, Friday 8th December 2000, The Great Hall, Brisbane Grammar School, Brisbane).

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Waratah (for SATB choir, brass and percussion)
 
Newcastle Herald

Matthew Orlovich is a young Australian composer whose commissions and performances represent an impressive body of work. This new work, Waratah, is a setting of Roland Robinson's poem and is a beautiful depiction of an Australian native flower.
 
It was commissioned by the Philharmonia last year and has been written for choir, brass and percussion. The piece brilliantly brings the spiritual dimension of the Australian bush to life.
 
"Robinson's description of the Waratah as a fierce and holy flower suggested to me both savage and sanctified musical ideas," Orlovich explains.
 
The text, with its vivid imagery and colour, lends itself perfectly to Orlovich's expansive style.
 
(Kim Sutherland. Newcastle Herald, 28 June 2001).