Perth Voice Interactive

IN the early 1800s Louis de Freycinet set sail to Australia, sent by the French government to collect specimens of native plants and animals.

On the journey artists depicted the expedition in a series of paintings, drawings and maps that came to be known as the Freycinet Collection, now held in the WA state library.

Two hundred years later library artist-in-residence Georg Corall is looking to the collection for inspiration for his new musical composition.

Director of the Perth Baroque ensemble and an expert in early music, Mr Corall says, “I think this is the first time something like this happened… I think it’s a very different idea”.

He’s inviting local musicians to come along to a workshop with him to share ideas and input on his work.

“I’ve got heaps of ideas written down,” he says. “I have started a little bit of composition already.”

People can come along with, “any instrument”.

“I can’t expect that anyone comes here with historic string instruments from around 1800 or earlier. So they can come with whatever they want and I will present music of the time.

“I will get them to know about other modern experimental music, and about ways of thinking of composition, and we will improvise a little bit.”

Mr Corall was born in Germany and started off playing the bane of every schoolboy’s existence, the recorder, moving onto the baroque oboe. He only started formally studying music a few years ago, specialising in trying to figure out what mediaeval music might have sounded like.

If you’re keen to get along to the free workshop it’s on March 15 at the state library, RSVP with Mr Corall on jordi.au@gmail.com

by DAVID BELL