- about Beginnings to no end, from review of Coil, a CD of Australian percussion music recorded by Claire Edwardes (Tall Poppies TP 193)

“Fast pulsed, insistent ‘beginnings’ on marimba first simply stop. The impulse to cease soon seems to come from the instrusion of a very different voice. Sweet marimba and gruff bongos dialogue, a remarkable exchange which must have stretched Edwardes, brain and limb until, finally, the marimba takes off on its own, happily monologuing, galloping, riffing, locked into a final pulse with minute diversions…”

Keith Gallasch

RealTime issue #81 Oct-Nov 2007 pg. 48

• - about Glimmer

“McKay moved to the massive bass flute, and was joined by Antares Boyle on alto flute, for Polish-based Australian composer Dominic Karski’s Glimmer. The instruments, although rather unwieldy in appearance - like highly polished pieces of industrial plumbing - had a breathy, recorder-like quality that was used to great effect by Karski. Fragments of melodies were sown among static streams of air and strange harmonic fluttering. Snatches of recognisably triadic and linear chromatic passages stood out between Boyle’s vicious flutter tonguing and McKay’s almost mechanically precise trills. The interaction between the two performers seemed to be predominantly on an aural rather than visual basis; they seemed sometimes to be in separate worlds connected only by the musical messages they sent across interstellar distances. Heavy articulation almost slapping against the metal brought to mind beating wings; Karski’s impetuous phrasing propelled the work, pushing great rushes of air through the instruments as they rushed headlong into the surprising sweetness of the final concord.”

Transit

Janet McKay (flute) // NSW // 20.09.07

by Angharad Davis  // 31.10.07

Resonate Magazine

http://www.resonatemagazine.com.au/

“The work featuring the bass flute was Dominik Karski’s Glimmer, where it and the alto flute interweave through a unique sound world of screeching, flutter tonguing, pitch bending, quarter tones and other extended techniques that exploit almost the entire range of both flutes.

This piece is quite typical of Karski’s exploration with sound quality. His scores are dense with minute detail for how the performer should approach each note or rhythm, which by challenging the performers brings the actual physicality of the performance into focus. I don’t think this is so much about the concept of the virtuoso (although this is certainly a factor) but more that aspects of playing that are generally hidden - breathing, hitting the keys etc. - are brought into focus and become an integral part of the sound world itself.”
Random Overtones

Janet McKay, Antares Boyle - flutes

Sydney Conservatorium, 15.05.07

Reviewed by Danielle Carey: http://alittlehummingbird.blogspot.com/2007/05/random-overtones.html

• - about The Source Within (and more)

“The central work was the premiere of Karski’s larger ensemble composition, The Source Within (2006). Commissioned by ELISION, The Source Within is, in effect, three quintets performed sequentially, each of which comprises three different quartets of instruments together with piano (Marilyn Nonken)-firstly, flute, guitar, harp and violin; then clarinet, contrabass clarinet, horn and cello; and finally, trumpet, trombone, oboe and percussion. Karski’s work is intense, evocative and demanding for performers and audience, each movement establishing four instrumental lines that build independently on the piano element. The complex and often contrasting voicing produces some unique sonorities and textures. The ensemble works draw together the extreme techniques of the solo works, demanding virtuosic playing to realise their musicality, and under French conductor Jean Deroyer, ELISION carry off these pieces wonderfully.
Concerts such as these consolidate the musical languages that emerge from compositional and performance development, and, especially when supported by radio broadcasting, strengthen public appreciation. Buckley’s thoughts behind the programming for this series were to bring together the musicians (many of whom are often overseas) and the composers, and to showcase particular instrumental combinations and techniques-an interweaving of musical ideas. The new works from Karski, Lim, Dench and Cassidy are terrific, and contrasting them with the more established Ferneyhough and Carter works identifies some current directions in composition, Cassidy for example incorporating unconventional performative techniques and Karski devising elaborate formal structures. With the predominance of wind instruments, the compositional use of controlled instrumental multiphonics and the emphasis on timbre are consistent threads.”

ELISION Ensemble, Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, May 22; Australian National Academy of Music, May 24; ABC Iwaki Auditorium, May 26

RealTime issue #80 Aug-Sept 2007 pg. 52

Chris Reid

• - about (e)motion of forms (six fragments for solo violin)

“Karski’s six fragments (…) make a riveting series of challenges for the performer who is excercised by all sorts technical demands, of which left-hand pizzicato and retuning the pegs while playing were the most obvious.

Karski’s sound-world is a volcanic place, strident and confronting for its percussive sonorities, but intense and serious in its progress, demanding that you share the performer’s hectic journey through its active pages.”

The Age, 29.11.05

Clive O’Connell