Lindsay Bourke (born 1945), who also performed as Lindsay Blue, is an Australian classical and ambient musician, visual artist and poet. He issued two albums in the 1970s, ''Wilderness Awakening'' (1971) and ''Love All Life'' (1975). In the late 1990s he released, ''Millenium Symphony''. In 1966, as a visual artist, he had his debut solo exhibition at a gallery and subsequently delivered Sydney's first sound and light mixed media show at the Cell Block Theatre.

Biography

Lindsay Bourke was born in 1945. He was classically trained with early influences from Beethoven, Chopin and

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

, while his later influence was Bob Dylan. Bourke had his debut solo painting exhibition at a small gallery in North Sydney in 1966. Soon after he provided Sydney's first sound and light mixed media show at the Cell Block Theatre. In 1969 he was the support act for progressive rock group, Tully and jazz musician, John Sangster. In July of the following year he performed a Beethoven-inspired concert, which F. R. Blanks of ''

The Australian Jewish Times ''The Australian Jewish News'' (''AJN'') is a newspaper published in Darlinghurst, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Since 2019, it has been a local partner of ''The Times of Israel''. History The ''AJN'' is descended from ''The Hebrew Stan ...

'' described, "the music was formally shapeless, in idiom a wild mixture, in technique visually striking and unpredictable." Also in that year he visited Germany and stayed with experimental musician,

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

. Bourke provided the soundtrack for a short silent film, ''The Beginning'', by film-maker

Chris Löfvén Chris Löfvén (born 4 April 1948) is an Australian film maker and musician. He started making films when he was about 12. From 1969 to 1970, he was the bass player in the Melbourne soul music, soul and psychedelic pop band, Cam-Pact. He is b ...

in 1971. Australian musicologist,

Ian McFarlane Ian McFarlane (born 1959) is an Australian music journalist, music historian and author, whose best known publication is the ''Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop'' (1999), which was updated for a second edition in 2017. As a journalist ...

, felt the "heavy organ score gave the film a chilling ambience, which only enhanced the more bizarre aspects..." Bourke's debut album, ''Wilderness Awakening'' (1971) was preceded by a concert at Sydney Town Hall, "Homage to Beethoven". Adrian Rawlins of ''

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'' caught Bourke's second performance of "Homage to Beethoven" in September 1970, at Melbourne Town Hall as part of his ''Peace Offering'' concert. Rawlins noticed the concert was, "not just sound and image but a fluid, fluent interrelated 'happening'..." McFarlane described ''Wilderness Awakening'' as "basically a piano improvisation in five movements." In August 1971 Bourke, and local rock band Pirana, supported

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

on the Australian leg of their Atom Heart Mother World Tour. The artist appeared at the Aquarius Festival of Alternative Lifestyles in May 1973 at Nimbin. By 1975 Bourke, performing as Lindsay Blue, issued his second album, ''Love All Life''. For the album he provided

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

, wind instruments, organ,

marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...

, grand piano, drums, percussion, synthesiser and

gong A gongFrom Indonesian language, Indonesian and ; ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ; ; ; ; is a percussion instrument originating from Southeast Asia, and used widely in Southeast Asian and East Asian musical traditions. Gongs are made of metal and ...

. McFarlane declared it would be "classified as ambient or New Age relaxation music, with its emphasis on electronic instrumentation and natural sounds." Furthermore, some tracks displayed, "a distinct religious leaning." In the late 1990s ''Millenium Symphony'' was released by Lindsay Blue Bourke via his website.:\

Discography

* ''Wilderness Awakening'' (1971) – (Spore/AAVR Custom) * ''Love All Life'' (1975) (Custom) * ''Millenium Symphony (c. 1999)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourke, Lindsay 1945 births Australian male songwriters Australian keyboardists Living people Musicians from Sydney