Van Diemen's Fiddles
Now available!
Released 21 November 2025
Three musicians, one instrument, but worlds apart in approach—from cutting-edge electronics to historically informed performance on 17th-century instruments.
What's emerged is a sound that doesn't fit neatly into any one category—and that's exactly the point.
For their debut album, Van Diemen's Fiddles explore stories of how music travelled with merchants, migrants, and mystics—how melodies born in one century bloom again in distant lands, revealing the surprising connections that weave through human experience across time and geography.
Van Diemen's Fiddles
Van Diemen's Fiddles formed in 2019 from a simple question: what happens when you put a modern experimental violinist, a klezmer fiddle player, and a baroque violinist together? Three musicians, one instrument, but worlds apart in our approaches—from cutting-edge electronics to historically informed performance on 17th-century instruments.
The magic lies not in making everyone sound the same, but in letting different musical universes collide. During pandemic lockdowns, we dove deep into new repertoire and experimentation, including weaving vocals into our sound, experimenting with the different colours we could create on our instruments and turning traditions on their heads.
What's emerged is a sound that doesn't fit neatly into any one category—and that's exactly the point.
This recording traces musical threads across millennia—from 12th-century Hildegard of Bingen's haunting chants to windswept British Isles traditions. Lutruwitan/Tasmanian composers contribute works inspired by Tasmania's landscapes, and we explore the raw emotional power of traditional klezmer music, Balkan rhythms and the sounds of 17th-century Ottoman courts.
These are stories of how music traveled with merchants, migrants, and mystics—how melodies born in one century bloom again in distant lands, revealing the surprising connections that weave through human experience across time and geography.
Artists
VAN DIEMEN’S FIDDLES
JULIA FREDERSDORFF ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & VIOLIN, VOCALS
EMILY SHEPPARD VIOLIN, VIOLA, EELHU, VOCALS
RACHEL MEYERS OCTAVE VIOLIN, VIOLA, VOCALS
Special Guest:
DAVE McNAMARA PIANO ACCORDION [TRACK 2,3,5,7,8,13]
HILDEGARD OF BINGEN (1098-1179) ARR. D. NICOLSON
1. Ave Generosa
TRAD ARR. D. NICOLSON
2. Balkan Medley
TRAD/PLAYFORD/ANON ARR. VAN DIEMEN’S FIDDLES & D. MCNAMARA
3. Greensleeves
EMILY SHEPPARD (B.1993)
4. Aftermath
DIMITRIE CANTEMIR (1673-1723) ARR. D. NICOLSON
5. Makam Uzzal Usules Berefsan - Ali Hoca
R. MEYERS (B.1981)
6. The Voice of Water
TRAD ARR. R. MEYERS
7. Nigun
MEYERS & D. MCNAMARA (B.1981)
8. Klezmer Circus
E. SHEPPARD
9. Alluvial
ALEXANDER LAING (1791-1868) ARR. R. MEYERS
10. Gordon Street Medley
E. SHEPPARD
11. Windtides I Foam
12. Windtides II Storm
TRAD ARR. J. FRANKEL, I. CRAVITZ & J. MARCOVITCH & R. MEYERS
13. Klezmer Medley: Doina Bessarabia / Zhok / Bulgar
TRAD ARR. D. NICOLSON
14. Scarborough Fair
TERI YOUNG (B.1991) ARR. VDF
15. Prayer
Hildegard of Bingen arr. D Nicolson Ave Generosa
Twelfth-century abbess Hildegard von Bingen was a magistra, visionary, theologian, composer, healer, artist, leader of women, Saint and Doctor of the Church. Throughout her life she had powerful visions which she documented through illustrations, poetry and musical settings of hymns and poems. Her spiritual compositions are among the most astonishing and unique creations of Benedictine monasticism. Ave Generosa would have been written to be sung by her fellow nuns at the abbey. The text is a hymn in praise of the Virgin Mary, who was a prominent subject in many settings by Hildegard. Perhaps the figure of the Virgin Mary resonated with Hildegard who herself was a woman of relative power and stature in a society where women had few rights or positions of power.
Donald Nicolson arranged Ave Generosa especially for Van Diemen’s Fiddles. Although he references and expands on the Benedictine monophonic chant style throughout, he worked to make use of the depth of instrumental range that the octave violin brings to the trio, and the differing textures between the modern and baroque violins, and divided the melodic phrases.
Trad. Balkan arr. D Nicolson Balkan Medley
Zapevala sojka ptica/Belo lice ljubam jas/Moj dilbere
Zapevala sojka ptica is a traditional song from Vojvodina, Serbia, that tells the poignant story of a young woman on the verge of marriage—possibly an arranged one. The song captures her early morning ritual of preparing gifts for her future in-laws, embodying the complex emotions surrounding this life transition in traditional Balkan culture.
The second piece, Belo lice ljubam, is a Macedonian folk song brought to prominence by Petranka Kostadinova, the revered queen of Macedonian traditional music. Kostadinova's interpretations helped preserve and popularize countless songs from her homeland's rich musical heritage.
The set concludes with Moj dilbere, a traditional Bosnian sevdalinka—a genre of deeply emotional love songs that shares kinship with Portugal's fado and similar melancholic musical traditions found across cultures. The very etymology of sevdalinka reveals its emotional depth: the root word sawdah comes from Arabic, meaning "black bile," connecting directly to the ancient concept of melancholy that runs through so much of the world's most affecting music.
Emily Sheppard Aftermath
takayna ashes -
on the sand
two speckled eggs
one cracked open
inside
a tiny, wet mass
shivers
Aftermath emerged from Emily's experience in Tasmania's takayna/Tarkine region following the devastating 2016 bushfires that consumed vast areas of northwest coastal rainforest. Walking along the beach at Sarah Anne Rocks, she witnessed the stark reality of fire's reach—charred vegetation extending right to the ocean's edge.
Against this backdrop of destruction, she discovered two speckled eggs lying vulnerable on the sand. In an extraordinary moment, one egg began to crack open before her eyes, revealing a tiny, trembling hooded plover chick. This encounter—witnessing new life emerging from a landscape scarred by fire—became the catalyst for the composition.
The piece stands as a dedication to the firefighters, many of them volunteers, who courageously battle the increasingly frequent and severe bushfires that threaten Australia's precious wilderness areas.
Aftermath is composed for viola and voice, designed to be performed by a single musician. The work employs scordatura tuning, with the viola retuned to B, G, D, F#, creating a distinctive harmonic palette that reflects the piece's emotional landscape.
Dimitrie Cantemir arr. D Nicolson Makam uzzal usules berefsan: Ali Hoca
Dimitrie Cantemir was a composer, scholar and diplomat from Moldova who lived from 1673 to 1723. A brilliant and cultured figure, he served both Ottoman sultans and Russia's Tsar Peter the Great. His treatise on Turkish classical music included more than three hundred fifty compositions preserved in his influential work Edvar-i Musiki using an innovative notation system he developed. Among his compositions is Makam uzzal usules berefsan: Ali Hoca.
After leading an ill-fated rebellion against the Ottomans in his native Moldavia, Cantemir fled to Russia where he continued his scholarly and musical activities. Historical accounts suggest he and his daughter performed together, presenting programs that ranged from Moldavian dance tunes to Ottoman and European classics creating a fascinating cultural synthesis in their musical presentations.
This arrangement was commissioned in 2020 for the Van Diemen’s Fiddles inaugural concert during the COVID 19 pandemic. Donald transcribed this piece from Cantemir’s own distinctive notation system for the purposes of this arrangement.
Rachel Meyers The Voice of Water
The Voice of Water was composed specifically for Van Diemen's Fiddles in 2021, taking its title from a collaborative publication featuring poetry by Tasmanian poet Adrienne Eberhard and artwork by Tasmanian artist Sue Lovegrove. Rachel was drawn to Eberhard's masterful use of language and sound to evoke water's fluid movement, finding inspiration in the poet's ability to capture something as ephemeral as flowing water through words.
The composition opens with a deliberately simple melody that carries the gentle quality of a lullaby. Through this musical simplicity, Rachel seeks to mirror the way sunlight dances and shifts across the surface of Tasmania's pristine freshwater tarns—those small mountain lakes that dot the island's wilderness areas.
As the piece unfolds, ostinato patterns and rhythmic exchanges between the lower violin parts gradually disturb the work's serene surface, like ripples spreading across still water. These darker undercurrents eventually subside, allowing the music to return to its original tranquil state, much like water settling back to stillness after disturbance.
Emily Sheppard Alluvial
Alluvial was composed for Van Diemen's Fiddles during a Ten Days on the Island residency in the St Helens area, where the ensemble engaged with community members as part of the 'If these halls could talk' program.
The piece draws inspiration from St Helens' rich mining heritage, particularly the alluvial tin mining that flourished in the late 1800s. During this period, Chinese immigrants established mining operations throughout the region, and the remnants of their camps can still be discovered scattered across the hillsides surrounding St Helens today.
The composition features a distinctive homemade instrument loosely based on the Chinese erhu. While traditional erhus use python skin for their resonating diaphragm, this unique instrument incorporates Tasmanian eel-skin, creating a fascinating fusion of Chinese musical tradition with local Tasmanian materials—a fitting metaphor for the cultural heritage that inspired the piece.
Alexander Laing arr. R Meyers Gordon Street Medley
Alexander Laing was a Scottish soldier who arrived in Tasmania as a convict and later served as a police constable following his release. Despite his official role in colonial law enforcement, Laing was also a fiddler and composer who participated in the musical life of the colony.
In 2011, Tasmanian historian Peter MacFie discovered a manuscript dated 1863 in the Tasmanian State Archives containing original and popular handwritten fiddle tunes. Working with folklorists Steve and Marjorie Gadd, MacFie published a modern edition of these colonial-era compositions.
Gordon Street, Sorell is named after the Tasmanian town and is one of two pieces from the manuscript believed to be Laing's original compositions. The tunes provide insight into the musical traditions that existed alongside the complex realities of colonial Tasmania, representing a piece of the period's cultural history preserved in musical notation.
Emily Sheppard WindTides
WindTides draws its inspiration from a mid-winter journey along the opening stretch of the South Coast Track, venturing into South Cape Rivulet. This remote trail traces Tasmania's southernmost coastline, where hikers experience the profound sensation of standing at the continent's edge.
The composition's two movements reflect the contrasting landscapes encountered on this rugged walk. Foam, the opening movement, evokes the tranquil expanse of South Cape Rivulet—a sweeping sandy beach that stretches endlessly in every direction, offering weary hikers a moment of peaceful respite. The second movement, Storm Dance, captures the raw power of the wilder ocean sections along the track, including remote surf breaks so prized that dedicated surfers will cache their boards and trek for hours through wilderness just to ride the waves.
Trad. Cravitz & Marcovitch arr. R Meyers - Klezmer Medley
The first two tunes in this set of klezmer music are traditionally played at Jewish weddings. Both were recorded by Abe Schwartz, a Romanian Jewish emigrant to the United States of America in the early twentieth century, and his daughter. Van Diemen's Fiddles play these tunes in a semi-improvised way, as the doina was traditionally played to showcase instrumental virtuosity and interpretation. The final tune in the set is a modern klezmer dance tune by well known klezmer instrumentalists and scholars Ilana Cravitz and Jim Marcovitch.
Trad. arr. D Nicolson Scarborough Fair
Scarborough Fair traces its roots back centuries as a traditional English ballad, but found new life and global recognition through Simon and Garfunkel's haunting 1960s interpretation. The song's journey to modern audiences follows a fascinating path of folk transmission: Paul Simon learned it from renowned English folk singer Martin Carthy, who had discovered it in the Ewan McColl songbook—a perfect example of how traditional music travels across generations and continents.
The ballad itself commemorates the historic Scarborough Fair, a medieval market that flourished in Yorkshire, England, for centuries before ending in the 1600s. The fair's legacy lives on both in song and in the town's continued celebrations of its medieval heritage.
Donald Nicolson's arrangement brings this ancient melody into contemporary focus through innovative string writing layering a percussive ostinato of alternating right and left-hand pizzicatos and harmonics beneath the timeless melody, while incorporating rich chordal structures drawn from video game music—creating an intriguing bridge between medieval tradition and modern digital soundscapes.
Teri Young Prayer
Prayer was written by Tasmanian folk singer Teri Young, a songwriter who crafts songs of social commentary and love. Young is a versatile musician who works as a singer, guitarist, choir leader and bushdance caller, building connections through music across Tasmania and beyond. Her songwriting has earned recognition including the prestigious Alistair Hulett award at the National Folk Festival, honoring her contribution to the folk tradition across three released albums.
The Van Diemen's Fiddles arrangement emerged during a memorable evening on the beach at Slopen Main, where the ensemble developed their interpretation of the song during their 2022 residency on the Tasman Peninsula. The coastal setting provided an inspiring backdrop as they transformed Young's original composition into their own distinctive arrangement.
JULIA FREDERSDORFF EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
LUKE PLUMB SOUND CONSULTANT
CALEB MILLER / MAC40 MEDIA RECORDING PRODUCER
CALUM MALCOLM MASTERING
Recorded at St Canice Sandy Bay 15-17 September 2021 & 15 July 2023
This album was made possible with the support of: Lizzy Welsh, Luke Plumb, Donald Nicolson, Patrick Savage, Southern Cross Care Tasmania / St Canice Sandy Bay.
This project has been assisted by the Tasmanian Government through Arts Tasmania.