Julian Cochran
Encyclopedia
Julian Cochran is an English
-born Australia
n composer.
Cochran's earlier works show stylistic influences from Impressionist music
and his later works are more noticeably influenced by Classical music
and folk music
of Eastern Europe. Cochran's piano compositions, such as the Piano Sonata
s, demand considerable virtuosity
from the performer. The piano works include Russian Toccata, eight Preludes for Piano Forte, three Scherzi
, five Romanian Dances, Animation Suite composed of Tin Sentinel, Fire Dance, Clockwork Doll, Wooden Dolls (Matreshki
) and Flydian Galop, five Mazurka
s, the two-part impressionistic work Maelstrom and three Piano Sonata
s. Cochran also wrote orchestral and chamber music including a trio for violin and oboe trio, sextet for string quartet, oboe and bassoon, the orchestral work Russian Song and choral works.
Cochran renounced the pairing of cultural identity with assumed heritage for artists working in the 21st Century thus rejecting notions of an Australian Musical Style and Cochran developed an individual tonal approach incorporating classical structures. This tonality commonly made effective use unusual scales; for example the scale consisting of alternating tones and semitones as used in Tin Sentinel thought to have first been used in Persian music of the 7th century AD; and the scale of alternating semi-tones and tone-and-a-halves used for Scherzo No. 3.
Cochran's public success began with the reaction to a performance of his music at Carnegie Hall
followed by radio broadcasts on ABC Classic FM catalyzing the study of Cochran's works.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
-born Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n composer.
Cochran's earlier works show stylistic influences from Impressionist music
Impressionist music
Impressionism in music was a tendency in European classical music, mainly in France, which appeared in the late nineteenth century and continued into the middle of the twentieth century. Similarly to its precursor in the visual arts, musical impressionism focuses on a suggestion and an atmosphere...
and his later works are more noticeably influenced by Classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
and folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
of Eastern Europe. Cochran's piano compositions, such as the Piano Sonata
Piano sonata
A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement , two movements , five or even more movements...
s, demand considerable virtuosity
Virtuoso
A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
from the performer. The piano works include Russian Toccata, eight Preludes for Piano Forte, three Scherzi
Scherzo
A scherzo is a piece of music, often a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony or a sonata. The scherzo's precise definition has varied over the years, but it often refers to a movement which replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or...
, five Romanian Dances, Animation Suite composed of Tin Sentinel, Fire Dance, Clockwork Doll, Wooden Dolls (Matreshki
Matryoshka doll
A matryoshka doll is a Russian nesting doll which is a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside the other. The first Russian nested doll set was carved in 1890 by Vasily Zvyozdochkin from a design by Sergey Malyutin, who was a folk crafts painter at Abramtsevo...
) and Flydian Galop, five Mazurka
Mazurka
The mazurka is a Polish folk dance in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, and with accent on the third or second beat.-History:The folk origins of the mazurek are two other Polish musical forms—the slow machine...
s, the two-part impressionistic work Maelstrom and three Piano Sonata
Piano sonata
A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Piano sonatas are usually written in three or four movements, although some piano sonatas have been written with a single movement , two movements , five or even more movements...
s. Cochran also wrote orchestral and chamber music including a trio for violin and oboe trio, sextet for string quartet, oboe and bassoon, the orchestral work Russian Song and choral works.
Cochran renounced the pairing of cultural identity with assumed heritage for artists working in the 21st Century thus rejecting notions of an Australian Musical Style and Cochran developed an individual tonal approach incorporating classical structures. This tonality commonly made effective use unusual scales; for example the scale consisting of alternating tones and semitones as used in Tin Sentinel thought to have first been used in Persian music of the 7th century AD; and the scale of alternating semi-tones and tone-and-a-halves used for Scherzo No. 3.
Cochran's public success began with the reaction to a performance of his music at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
followed by radio broadcasts on ABC Classic FM catalyzing the study of Cochran's works.