Entertainment
1 February, 2026
River inspires piano recording
A PIANO recording of ‘Mowbray River Murmurs’ has been completed, marking a new milestone for the composition inspired by Douglas Shire’s Mowbray River.
Composer David W. Pyke said the piano version by pianist Marina Romeyko was created to make the work more accessible while preserving its original intent.
“Ultimately, it’s designed as a full string orchestra, but the essence of it is to capture the piece and follow the melody line and the structure of it as closely as possible and just make it feasible for a pianist to render rather than an orchestra,” Mr Pyke said.
The original composition was written with support from a Douglas Shire Council RADF grant, which funded the development of the work as a string piece themed on the Mowbray River.
“I put forward a proposal to write something themed on that river and they (Douglas Shire Council) funded the writing of it,” Mr Pyke said.
The piano arrangement was produced through a separate funding process, combining support from a Flying Arts rapid response grant (RAF), the publisher who arranged the piano score and Mr Pyke himself.
“RADF put in about a third of the cost of it, the publisher (Ms Anneliese Salisbury) who did the arrangement also put in a third and I put in my money as well,” he said. “And so, we got all that together to get it recorded nicely.”
The recording was completed in Europe through Phasma-Music, an agency led by Dr Iwona Glinka, which specialises in recording and promoting new works.
“She’s basically set up recording opportunities for new works,” Mr Pyke said. “She’s very interested in promoting and publishing new works that haven’t been heard.”
The piano recording of Mowbray River Murmurs is now available online at www.bit.ly/46d5kb6.
