Reviews

Symphony No. 3 – Century (2012)

“Schultz has mapped out a symphonic scheme that could be a blueprint for Canberra’s long vistas and ordered avenues.” Read Matthew Westwood’s article in The Australian.


“The Symphony No. 3 “Century” by Andrew Schultz was a resounding success, drawing a standing ovation, wolf whistles and prolonged applause.” Read the full review from Clinton White from City News.


Century is excellent. It is epic. It is powerful and beautiful”. [Chris Wallace, “Schultz hits a century,” Chris Wallace Columns]


“Composer Andrew Schultz’s musical celebration of Canberra is inspired by radical ideas and bold landscapes.” [Larissa Nicholson, “Settling Centenary’s Score,” Canberra Times, 26 October 2012]


“This is a work that would be grand live, though its vigour is not lost in the recording…With its fortissimo brass and dissonant strings, the first movement Struggle is as you’d expect it to be. This work was witnessed by thousands who attended its performance at Canberra’s 2013 centenary celebrations. I can only imagine how substantial it might’ve sounded at the Lake Burley Griffin event. Conceptually, Struggle refers to the relationship between the landscape and the city in the time before 1913.It’s a theme that’s continued through the next movement Dream which, according to Nicole Saintilan in Resonate, “describes the moment where Griffin tries to visualise how his architectural ideas could fit onto the wide undulating, natural spaces of the Australian landscape”. The third movement, Create, hints at the way Canberra was built; not without its challenges. [Stephanie Eslake, THE TSO’S BEST AUSSIE MUSIC RECORDINGS.]


“Andrew Schultz: Century is a ‘must-listen’ for any music lovers that find themselves thirsting for stimulating, long-form compositions by one of Australia’s great artists, performed beautifully by one of our leading orchestras.Andrew Schultz is one of Australia’s most widely celebrated and renowned composers….His Symphony No. 3 ‘Century’ is a magnificent addition to the canon of orchestral music by homegrown composers. The work was commissioned for the Centenary of Canberra in 2013. Its creative provocation was a response to themes surrounding the founding ideals and design of Canberra and its utopian, modernist architectural design by American couple Walter Burley + Marion Mahony Griffin.” [Alex Raineri, “Andrew Schultz: Century,” Loudmouth: The Music Trust, 28 May 2021]


“So too, the symphony, with its personal look at the artistic process, shows that persistence and integrity are needed in most ventures.” Read Nicole Saintilan’s “Building a city, building a symphony”, a detailed analysis of the work, in Resonate Magazine.


Canberra100 have produced a detailed Education Kit concerning the work written by Nicole Saintilan – it can be downloaded here. Symphony No. 3 – Century Music Education Kit.