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.”
“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, 12 March 2013.
“Century is excellent. It is epic. It is powerful and beautiful”.
Chris Wallace, “Schultz hits a century,” Chris Wallace Columns, March 2013.
“Composer Andrew Schultz’s musical celebration of Canberra is inspired by radical ideas and bold landscapes.”
Larissa Nicholson’s article, “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.” TSO Website News 2023.
“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.”
After the interval, another monumental work. The “Symphony No. 3, Century”, which tells the story of Canberra’s origin, written by Andrew Schultz. It is a searching piece that undulates as sections pop out against the play of music. Full of tension, the first movement is never at rest with itself; and it’s a clever work. The second movement was a more unified whole. It followed a similar theme throughout as it built to a grand crescendo for the entire orchestra and then came to a soft rest using the same melody. A triumphant call on the brass started the last movement. A driving beat representing progress hammered out a defiant statement before a reflective pastoral tune spoke of Canberra’s country setting. A grand sweeping theme told another story as musical motives flew across the orchestra. A huge final burst was coming, and when it hit with every player at their loudest, it created a cracking, dynamic finale.Orchestra anniversary big, penetrating and thrilling | Canberra CityNews
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.
Listen on-line to the premiere performance and read a detailed commentary of the work – ABC recording of Three Architects Op. 91a, and Symphony No. 3 – Century Op. 91 performed by Canberra Symphony Orchestra/Centenary Chorus/Nicholas Milton.
Browse other reviews
- 12 Variations (1997)
- A Distant Shore (1989)
- After Nina (2007)
- As wave drives wave (2022)
- Ash Fire – Contrapunctus IX (2000)
- Attack (1990)
- August Offensive (2012)
- Barcarole (1992)
- Barren Grounds (1988)
- Bassoon Concerto (2023)
- Beach Burial (2009)
- Black River (1988)
- Calling Music: Contrafactum I (1992)
- Chorale, Demon, Beacon (1995)
- Collide (1990)
- Dark chair (2013)
- Dark Well (2021)
- Data es Lux (1997)
- De Profundis (2025)
- Dead Songs (1991)
- Deep blue and dirty (2011)
- Devil’s Music: Contrafactum II (1993)
- Diver’s Lament (1996)
- Doppler Patrol (2020)
- Ekstasis (1990)
- Elegy (2017)
- Endling (2007)
- Etudes Espace (1986)
- Falling Man/Dancing Man (2005)
- Fast Talking (1989)
- Four Inventions (2008)
- Garotte (1982)
- Going Into Shadows (2001)
- Golden Dominion (2021)
- Harmonia Belli (2018)
- I am black (2001)
- I am writing in this book (2011)
- Indigo Invention (2010)
- Interludes (2015)
- Journey to Horseshoe Bend (2002)
- L’Oiseau Fantastique (1984)
- Lake moonrise (2013)
- Le Moliére Imaginaire (2015)
- Lines drawn from silence (2007)
- Maali (2016)
- Magnificat (2009)
- Master Mariner (2005)
- Mephisto (1990)
- Music is a gentle hammer (1991)
- Nocturnes and Variations (2014)
- Nunc Dimittis (2011)
- Once upon a time… (2006)
- One Sound (2012)
- Paradise (2013)
- Peace (2013)
- Piano Concerto (2022)
- Prelude and Postscript (2015)
- Respiro/Simple Ground (1993)
- Sea Call (1988)
- Sea-Change (1987)
- Septet No. 2 – Circle Ground (1995)
- She dances by the river (2018)
- Simplify, Simplify (2009)
- Sleepers Wake – Karalananga (2003)
- Song of Songs (2004)
- Sound Lur and Serpent (2014)
- Southern Cantata (2017)
- Spherics (1985)
- Stick Dance 1 (1987)
- Stick Dance 2 (1989)
- Stick Dance 3 (1992)
- Stille Sprache (2009)
- Suspended Preludes (1993)
- Symphony No. 1 – In Tempore Stellae (1998)
- Symphony No. 2 – Ghosts of Reason (2008)
- Symphony No. 4 (2025)
- The Children’s Bach (2008)
- The Line (2022)
- The Meaning of Water (2006)
- To the evening star (2009)
- Tonic Continent (2000)
- Violin Concerto (1996)
- Wild Flower (2007)
- Winter Ground (1997)