News & Links

1. THE LOST CODEX OF AVALON – ORDERS NOW AVAILABLE!

A unique medieval and fantasy collaboration between composer and performer David Yardley and some of Australia’s finest musicians from the Sydney Chamber Choir, The Song Company and Pastance.  Inspired by his lifelong immersion in authentic medieval sound, Yardley’s compositions conjure lost music of the mythic isle of Avalon, from Arthurian legend. This first of two albums journeys through Yardley’s settings of long-forgotten medieval sacred and secular texts, whose original music has not survived, as well as his musical settings of fantasy poetry and contemporary Australian works.

A video with the stunning sound of The Song Company, rehearsing before our recording, is available here, along with some more info about the album. 

 Click here to order the new album at the early discount price of $14.95 (USD). You will receive the music from the album on CD and in digital format, as well as album booklet. The album is scheduled for release in December 2021. Five percent of all proceeds will go to charities supporting artists during the pandemic. 

2. “Listeners… will be transported to a musical realm that offers consolation and a place for restoration through the pure beauty of his compositions” – Canberra Times, 11 April 2020. 

For 2020, a lot of us have moved music online – thrilled to say that our online concert in the Drill Hall Gallery received a fabulous review! A lovely article about my philosophy on music writing, upcoming album and our online concert, written by wonderful Jennifer Gall in the Canberra Times: https://www.canberratimes.com.au/…/medieval-sound-in-a-mod…/

3. COMPETITION OUTCOME – PUBLISHED FANTASY AUTHORS

In the midst of this challenging time for artists (and for everyone), I’m delighted to announce the outcome of the inaugural Published Fantasy Authors Competition.

Congratulations to Anne Casey as the winner of the competition, for her poem “whisperings”!

Anne’s poem “whisperings” has previously been awarded First Prize in the Henry Lawson Verse & Short Story Competition 2018 – Traditional Verse (Australia). It was first published in the Henry Lawson Verse & Short Story Competition 2018 Anthology, and subsequently in her poetry collection out of emptied cups (Salmon Poetry 2019).

(Web: anne-casey.com, Twitter: @1annecasey, Instagram: instagram.com/1annecasey/)

The judges also recognised Runner-Up and Highly Commended entries as follows:

Runner-Up:

JC Anderson, “Ballade: The Phoenix”

Highly Commended:

Penelope Cottier, “Music of Fairy Tales”

Magdalena Ball, “Technological Singularity”

Karla Dearsley, “Discord’s Child: The Song of Passing”

As part of the winning prize, I am so excited to have set music to Anne Casey’s poem, “whisperings”, as part of my upcoming album, “The Lost Codex of Avalon”, featuring some of Australia’s finest musicians recording my medieval- and fantasy-inspired compositions.

Discount pre-orders of the album are now available at: davidyardleymusic.com/store1/. Five percent of all proceeds will go to charities supporting artists during the pandemic. . For a taste of the musical style of the album, head to: https://youtu.be/4pC0qEbRRks

On behalf of all the judges, I’d like to offer sincere thanks to the authors from across the world who submitted their works for this competition – the number and quality of the entries was absolutely wonderful to see.

Heartfelt thanks to the other members of the judging panel, who so generously gave their time and expertise.

A final note – due to all the interest in this inaugural competition, we are hoping to run more in future. So please join the mailing list at davidyardleymusic.com to receive updates, including news of further fantasy author competitions!

EVENTS

1. Video featuring the stunning sound of The Song Company, at our final rehearsal for The Lost Codex of Avalon

We managed to capture some footage of our pre-recording rehearsal with The Song Company, Australia’s leading professional vocal ensemble. I also speak about the album project in the video. Add some “pure beauty” to your day – you can watch the video here. And you can click here to order The Lost Codex of Avalon.

2. Exclusive Album Preview Concert – ongoing – bonus available with album pre-orders

David Yardley (countertenor, medieval harp) and professional musicians from the Canberra-based Luminescence Chamber Singers, created an online exclusive preview concert of works from David’s new album of compositions, The Lost Codex of Avalon. Receive your exclusive link to view the online concert with any pre-order of The Lost Codex of Avalon.

The performance was recorded in the Drill Hall Gallery in the Australian National University. 

3. Ongoing – Christopher Preston Thompson – Online concert with Midtown Concerts and Gotham Early Music Scene

I was delighted that wonderful New York City-based performer Christopher Preston Thompson included my latest composition in a beautiful online concert on April 23, 2020. It’s a forgotten medieval plague song, revived for our times with my new music for voice and harp. The concert itself was a brilliant program of medieval troubadour, trouvere and Latin songs, and you can access it here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=852349345278362

I want to say a few more words about this online concert of Christopher’s, because it really brought some peace and joy in these dark times, in the unique way that medieval music can.

Christopher’s performances in this concert brought out the fantastic contrasts and colours of the medieval repertory, by turns contemplative, melancholy, joyful, spiritual. All the things this music is meant to be. This is no mean feat – a singer, with an instrument, singing in old languages – to draw forth the dramatic colours of the music for a wide variety of modern audiences to delight in. And beyond this, I have to praise Christopher’s approach to this concert so much. There’s this charming, engaging sweetness that augments all of his obvious knowledge. It just moves the whole performance away from any pretentiousness and into a space of simpler joy, despite his obvious mastery of the genre and the material. This concert is a gift for people living through strange and uncertain times. Really, really well done, and thank you.

My own performance is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rth9-6p0mSs. And I’m delighted to say this one is on my upcoming album, The Lost Codex of Avalon. In this year of our own modern plague, this piece of surviving medieval plague history is too poignant to leave out.