A Gwen Harwood Cycle | Music by Linda Kouvaras
13 November, 2025, Tempo Rubato, Brunswick, VIC
Helen Morse, narrator
Justin Kenealy, Saxophone,
Coady Green, piano
I am an admirer of Gwen Harwood, who often uses musical references, particularly for piano, in her poetry, coupled with a meditative depth of thought that makes her words rich and layered. As an admirer, I had high expectations of this concert, which was a meeting of recitation and musical interpretation, with every poem placed in context by an autobiographical introduction.
My every expectation of poetic recitation was achieved by Helen Morse, who was empathetic, dramatic, and brought a clarity to the poetry that is not easy – this was handled very deftly by someone who feels the work deeply, but also has the necessary skill of navigating musical notation.
The performances of Justin Kenealy and Coady Green were also very fine and expertly handled the balance between soloistic passages and accompanying passages. The compositions within the cycle by Linda Kouvaras showed many colours and moods, perhaps the most interesting aspect of this for me was that it was composed as a true song cycle, co-ordinated and fully scored. The narration swung between speaking over quiet, cinematic background music, call and response patterns or strong passages where the voice and the saxophone and piano were all working at high volume. Yet the balance always gave the words precedence, which shows a deft and delicate hand as a composer.
I found it to be a most compelling evening, I learned some about Gwen Harwood’s life, I understood context around her poetry, I was moved and astounded by the power of her words – and all of this was made possible by the performances and the composition that supported and elevated the power of the words. Enhancing the poems by giving the words space, time, emphasis, I was reminded that Gwen Harwood herself aspired to be a composer and a concert pianist – there are many references in her poems to the ways in which words cannot do justice to lived experience, just as musicians know that words cannot do justice to music.
“Sometimes I’m gripped by poems so sad and awful/ I could not write them down” – Beyond Metaphor.
Reviewed by Meredith Connie
