"What I'm interested in is telling a story," he says.

"Getting to the person behind the politician … all the resonances and layers of meaning ... that is where a lot of the communication takes place, it isn't the words, it's about tuning into their souls."

For both of his contributions to the Canberra International Music Festival, Davidson has intertwined politics and art, layering them on many different levels.

His first concert is the world premiere of Stalin's Piano, to be played by Russian pianist Sonya Lifschitz.

The story behind the piece is a fascinating one. Davidson read an autobiography of the composer Dmitri Shostakovich who told a story about Joseph Stalin and the composer Maria Yudina.

"The story is," Davidson says, "that one night there was a performance of Mozarts' 23rd piano concerto played by Yudina and Stalin was listening on the radio.

"He liked it so much he sent a message to the orchestra somehow that he wanted a recording of the concert. Apparently they stayed up all night making a recording of this piece, they had to go through three different conductors because the first two were drunk, and the next morning they delivered a vinyl recording to Stalin.

"When he died on March 5, 1953, he was found alone in his room with that vinyl record still spinning on his record player."

The piece looks at the ever simmering conflict between states and individuals, the idea of Yudina, who dared to criticise Stalin, and Shostakovich, and their interactions with the highest level of politics.

The second concert is The Art of Speech which features Davidson's famous "Singing Prime Ministers" series, which capture iconic speeches in Australian history such as Gough Whitlam's "Well May We Say" speech from 1975 and Julia Gillard's misogyny speech from 2012 by turning them into brilliant choral works.

"I've always been fascinated by the drama of politics, the theatre of it," Davidson says.

"I watched Question Time or parliament and found it so fascinating as theatre.

"When I was a young boy living in Canberra I got to meet Gough Whitlam, he came and visited our church. I met Malcolm Fraser and Sir John Kerr too in the mid 70s.

"I remember the day of the Dismissal, I was eight, I listened on the radio to the whole event unfolding and was so struck by it.

"Years later when I began thinking about the music I went back to the ABC and got the recording and made a piece out of that.

"I eventually got to play that piece to Gough Whitlam and he had a bit of a chuckle."

Davidson lives in Brisbane now but often returns to Canberra, finding inspiration for composing in not only the national institutions but also the natural environment.

"I've written a lot of music riding my bike through trails on Black Mountain or up in the Brindabellas," he says.

"Canberra is a very inspiring place."

Stalin's Piano, featuring Sonya Lifschitz, premieres on April 30. Fairfax Theatre, National Gallery of Australia. 2pm. The event is followed by a public discussion on art and politics with a panel including Deborah Hart (senior curator NGA), Robert Davidson (composer), Andrew Ford (composer/writer) and others.

The Art of Speech, featuring Topology, Australian Voices directed by Gordon Hamilton, Luminescence Chamber Singers, Gandel Hall, NGA, Sunday May 7, 2pm.

Bookings can be made online at cimf.org.au