Conducting repertoire
Brett Dean’s career as conductor is blossoming alongside his work as composer and performer, his imaginative programmes usually centred around his own works combined with those of other composers.
Recent conducting highlights include the Sydney Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, Tonkünstler-Orchester, Northern Sinfonia and as Artist in Residence with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.
A selection of Brett Dean’s recent and future conducting programmes
Strauss Till Eulenspiegel
Mozart Sinfonia Concertante in E-flat for Violin, Viola and Orchestra
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Dean Beggars and Angels
Lutoslawski Sacher Variation for solo cello
Lutoslawski Symphony No.3
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Dvorak Cello Concerto in B minor
R. Meale Clouds Now and Then
Thomas Meadowcroft Peacemaker Tattoo
Lisa Illean Land's End
Georges Lentz "Caeli enarrant ..." III
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Brett Dean Engelsflügel
Anthony Pateras Immediata
Beethoven Adagio molto e mesto (from Rasumovsky Quartet No.1, Op.59) arr. Dean
Dean Testament
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Beethoven Symphony No.3 ‘Eroica’
Jean Sibelius Scènes historiques, Op.25, No.1 ‘All'overtura’
Brett Dean Dramatis Personae
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Jean Sibelius Symphony No.3 in C major, Op.52
Brahms Academic Festival Overture
Bruch Double Concerto for viola and clarinet (play/direct)
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Dean Ariel’s Music (clarinet concerto)
Brahms Tragic Overture
Mozart Prelude & Fugue in D minor K. 405/4 (after J.S. Bach, BWV 877)
Brett Dean Short Stories No. 1 & 2 (Devotional; Premonitions)
Mozart Adagio & Fugue in E major, K. 405/3 (after J.S. Bach, BWV 878)
Brett Dean Short Stories No. 3 & 4 (Embers; Komarov’s Last Words)
Mozart Adagio & Fugue in B minor (after J.S. Bach, BWV 849)
Brett Dean: Short Stories No 5 (Arietta)
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Beethoven Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral"
Brett Dean's Viola Concerto
Commissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic & Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
“Having done so many pieces in recent years that tell an extra-musical story, or have a poetic or literary title, it seemed fitting that this should be a piece that examines first and foremost purely musical ideas... It’s nevertheless an essay in which I inhabit part-sonic and part-lyrical words as in much of my music... I’m treating it the same as a concerto I’d write for any other viola soloist, and certainly want to give myself something that I personally enjoy playing in terms of challenge, expression and virtuosity.”
Brett Dean on his Viola Concerto
Details
Duration: 27 minutes
Instrumentation: 3(I,III=picc,II=picc,afl).2(II=corA).2(II=bcl).2(II=dbn)-3.2.2.1-timp.perc(3)-harp-cel-pft-strings(12.10.8.6.5)
Click here to see the publisher's information on the Viola Concerto
Performances past and future include: BBC Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Radio Symphony Orchestra Berlin, St Louis Symphony, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, Hamburg Philharmonic, Tonkunstler Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Residentie Orkest, Trondheim Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic
Viola Concerto conductors: Marc Albrecht, Lionel Bringuier, Baldur Brönnimann, Reinbert de Leeuw, André de Ridder, Olari Elts, Rumon Gamba, Marko Letonja, Hannu Lintu, James MacMillan, Sakari Oramo, Peter Oundjian, David Robertson, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, John Storgards, François-Xavier Roth, Bramwell Tovey, Simone Young, Lothar Zagrosek
Click here to watch the performance on YouTube
Viola Concerto Reviews
“Dean is a top-flight viola player as well as an upwardly mobile composer. His new Viola Concerto is a substantial affair, elegantly proportioned and full of colourful musical imagery." Guardian
"Dean has written something as personal as one would expect. The haunting and arresting sounds are all his own, and bright colours suggest a strong connection to his country’s landscape. Indeed, the peaceful close, in which the previously hectic solo viola emerges purified, evokes a lullaby in which the earth seems to be singing itself to sleep." The Times
“Each element of Dean's brilliant orchestration could be savored, as well as his own virtuosic playing.” Los Angeles Times
“...tightly structured and well-proportioned... Dean is a fine soloist, too, throwing off the blazingly virtuosic passages with unruffled ease while sustaining a strong, full-bodied tone. His orchestration is imaginative, full of evocative colours and striking effects” The Australian
“…Dean has lost none of his virtuosity as a performer, while confirming his reputation as an up-and-coming craftsman-composer… Curiously beautiful, somewhat enigmatic? No question.” Financial Times
Chamber music
Doric Quartet & Brett Dean:
Haydn String Quartet Op.20 No.1
Brett Dean Epitaphs (string quintet)
Brahms Quintet No.2 in G maj Op.111
Doric Quartet & Brett Dean – Ophelia Songs
Haydn String Quartet Op.76 No.65
Brett Dean String Quartet No.2 “And Once I Played Ophelia”
Brahms Ophelia Songs WoO.22 (arr Reimann)
Brahms String Quintet No.2 in G maj Op.111
Viola & Mezzo-soprano Duo
Brett Dean & Lotte Betts-Dean
Ralph Vaughan Williams Prelude from Three Vocalises
Stuart MacRae The Lif of this World
Sally Beamish Buzz
Arthur Bliss The Dandelion
Erin Gee Mouthpiece I
Brett Dean Sketches for Siegbert
Giacinto Scelsi Hô I
Morton Feldman Only
Paul Hindemith Gute Nacht from Die Serenaden
Michael Berkeley Sonnet for Orpheus from Three Rilke Sonnets
Brett Dean I Starred Last Night, I Shone
Brett Dean performs a range of chamber music projects; future highlights include projects with Alban Gerhardt, the Scharoun Ensemble and at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival.
Conductors
Conductors who have recently conducted Brett Dean’s music include:
David Afkham
Marin Alsop
Andrey Boreyko
Martyn Brabbins
Lionel Bringuier
Baldur Brönnimann
Sylvain Cambreling
Karina Canellakis
Nicholas Carter
Nicholas Collon
Thomas Dausgaard
Olari Elts
Mark Elder
Thierry Fischer
Michael Francis
Edward Gardner
HK Gruber
Daniel Harding
Vladimir Jurowski
Tonu Kaljuste
Stanislav Kochanovsky
Hannu Lintu
James MacMillan
Klaus Mäkelä
Susanna Mälkki
Andrew Manze
Ludovic Morlot
Andris Nelsons
Gemma New
Jonathan Nott
Sakari Oramo
Peter Oundjian
Rafael Payare
Geoffrey Paterson
Simon Rattle
Lawrence Renes
David Robertson
François-Xavier Roth
Kwamé Ryan
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Dmitri Slobodeniuk
Markus Stenz
John Storgårds
Robin Ticciati
Richard Tognetti
Robert Trevino
Krzysztof Urbański
Duncan Ward
Joshua Weilerstein
François Xavier-Roth
Simone Young
Chicago TribuneA voice of fertile imagination, originality and expressive subtlety.
Guardian...the two works here show Dean to be a formidable and musical player as well as an impressive composer. The Viola Concerto confirms the impression it made at its first performance… It is one of Dean's most successful orchestral works, an asymmetrical, three-movement structure that pivots about a dark, central scherzo.
The Australian…a towering masterpiece. Multi-layered and rhythmically complex, Fire Music’s imaginative depth, sophistication and sheer impact marks it as one of the most important works to come from an Australian composer.