Brett Dean's Short Stories

‘A short story is always a disclosure, frequently an evocation.’ Victor Sawdon Pritchett, from his preface to the Oxford Book of Short Stories 1981

‘Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.’ Henry David Thoreau, in a letter from 1857

Brett Dean introduces his note on his work Short Stories - which Britten Sinfonia premieres in the UK in the coming week – with these two quotes, hinting at his own thoughts in the piece.

A composer and viola player, Brett studied in Brisbane before moving to Germany in 1984 where he was a permanent member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for over 15 years. He returned to Australia in 2000 to concentrate on his growing compositional activities, and his works now attract considerable attention, championed by conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Markus Stenz and Daniel Harding. One of the most internationally performed composers of his generation, much of his work draws from literary, political or visual stimuli.