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University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
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The influence of the Australian landscape and indigenous Aboriginal music and traditions on Australian choral music: a study of choral works by nine Australian composers
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The influence of the Australian landscape and indigenous Aboriginal music and traditions on Australian choral music: a study of choral works by nine Australian composers
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Content
THE INFLUENCE OF THE AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPE AND INDIGENOUS
ABORIGINAL MUSIC AND TRADITIONS ON AUSTRALIAN CHORAL
MUSIC: A STUDY OF CHORAL WORKS BY NINE AUSTRALIAN
COMPOSERS
By
Kym Louise Scott
_________________________________________________________
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC THORNTON SCHOOL OF MUSIC
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS
(CHORAL MUSIC)
MAY 2016
Copyright 2016 Kym Louise Scott
ii
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I would like to thank the wonderful Australian
composers featured in this document. I am grateful for the support and
encouragement they offered me throughout this process and for their passion for
creating music that reflects the wonderful landscape of Australia. I would like to
recognize my doctoral committee, Dr. Jo-Michael Scheibe, Dr. Nick Strimple, and in
particular Dr. Cristian Grases, who encouraged me to further explore the choral
music of my country and who instilled in me a passion for sharing this music with
the rest of the world. I would also like to thank Dr. Beatriz Ilari for the role she
played in assisting me through the research process. I want to thank my
international choir family, in particular the members of Southern Cross Voices who
first nurtured my love for choral music. They have been a great support to me for
over twenty years and continue to inspire me every day to be the best conductor and
the best person I can be. Lastly, I would like to sincerely thank my family for their
constant encouragement and support and for always believing in me.
iii
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ii
List of Musical Examples iv
List of Tables vii
Abstract viii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1. An Overview of Choral Music Activity in Australia from 5
Colonial Times to the Modern Era
Chapter 2. The Unique Properties of the Australian Landscape and 17
the Music and Traditions of the Australian Aborigines
Chapter 3. The Choral Music of Peter Sculthorpe and the Beginnings 25
of an Australian Musical Identity
Chapter 4. The Choral Music of Ross Edwards 36
Chapter 5. The Choral Music of Stephen Leek 68
Chapter 6. The Choral Music of Sarah Hopkins 93
Chapter 7. The Choral Music of Iain Grandage 107
Chapter 8. The Choral Music of Paul Stanhope 119
Chapter 9. The Choral Music of Paul Jarman, Dan Walker, and Joseph Twist 130
Chapter 10. Looking Forward 144
Appendix A – Published Scores, Unpublished Manuscripts, and Recordings 146
Appendix B – Contact Information for Composers and Publishers 149
Appendix C – Map of Australia Including Prominent Aboriginal Settlements 150
Bibliography 151
iv
Musical Examples
Examples
Example 3.1 Peter Sculthorpe, Lullaby, mm.1-3. 31
Example 3.2 Peter Sculthorpe, “Canticle” from Requiem, mm. 1-11. 32
Example 4.1 Ross Edwards, Flower Songs, opening of movement 1. 42
Example 4.2 Ross Edwards, Flower Songs, opening of movement 2. 43
Example 4.3 Ross Edwards, Dawn Mantras, opening. 46
Example 4.4 Ross Edwards, Dawn Mantras, m. 80. 47
Example 4.5 Ross Edwards, Symphony No. 4 Star Chant, mm. 333-337. 50
Example 4.6 Ross Edwards, Mountain Chant, second movement, 52
mm. 153-175.
Example 4.7 Ross Edwards, Southern Cross Chants, mm. 1-13. 56
Example 4.8 Ross Edwards, Southern Cross Chants, opening measures 57
of second section.
Example 4.9 Ross Edwards, Southern Cross Chants, opening measures 58
of third module.
Example 4.10 Ross Edwards, Southern Cross Chants, fourth module 59
lullaby.
Example 4.11 Ross Edwards, Southern Cross Chants, finale. 60
Example 4.12 Ross Edwards, Missa Alchera – Mass of the Dreaming, 62
aboriginal chant found in first soprano line.
Example 4.13 Ross Edwards, Sacred Kingfisher Psalms, 65
opening measures.
Example 4.14 Ross Edwards, Sacred Kingfisher Psalms, bird chant. 67
Example 5.1 Stephen Leek, “Cutty Sark” from Voices of a Land, 72
opening measures.
Example 5.2 Stephen Leek, Riawanna. 75
v
Example 5.3 Stephen Leek, “Mulga” from Great Southern Spirits. 77
Example 5.4 Stephen Leek, “Kondalilla” from Great Southern Spirits. 79
Example 5.5 Stephen Leek, “Uluru” from Great Southern Spirits. 80
Example 5.6 Stephen Leek, “Uluru” from Great Southern Spirits. 81
Example 5.7 Stephen Leek, “Monkey and Turtle” from Island Songs. 82
Example 5.8 Stephen Leek, “Tabulam” from Songs of Passage. 85
Example 5.9 Stephen Leek, “Goolay-yali” from Ancient Cries. 87
Example 5.10 Stephen Leek, “Coonawrin” from Glasshouses. 89
Example 5.11 Stephen Leek, “Coonawrin” from Glasshouses, ending. 90
Example 5.12 Stephen Leek, Cambrewarra. 92
Example 6.1 Sarah Hopkins, Past Life Melodies. 98
Example 6.2 Sarah Hopkins, Past Life Melodies, final page. 99
Example 6.3 Sarah Hopkins, Honour the Earth, African chant. 101
Example 6.4 Sarah Hopkins, Honour the Earth, Celtic influence. 102
Example 6.5 Sarah Hopkins, Honour the Earth, Harmonic overtone 102
singing and Didgeridu feature.
Example 6.6 Sarah Hopkins, Ancient Forests Once Stood Here, 104
Bird calls.
Example 6.7 Sarah Hopkins, Ancient Forests Once Stood Here, 105
Harmonic overtone singing, harmonic whirlies, and use
of the open fifth interval.
Example 7.1 Iain Grandage, “Dawn” from Three Australian 109
Bush Songs.
Example 7.2 Iain Grandage, “Birds” from Three Australian 111
Bush Songs.
Example 7.3 Iain Grandage, “Sunset” from Three Australian 112
Bush Songs.
vi
Example 7.4 Iain Grandage, Hush: On the Death of a Bush Church. 114
Example 7.5 Iain Grandage, Wheatbelt. 116
Example 7.6 Iain Grandage, Wheatbelt. 117
Example 7.7 Iain Grandage, Wheatbelt. 118
Example 8.1 Paul Stanhope, “Explorer’s Journal” from 120
Three Geography Songs.
Example 8.2 Paul Stanhope, “Geography III” from 122
Three Geography Songs.
Example 8.3 Paul Stanhope, “Geography VI” from 123
Three Geography Songs.
Example 8.4 Paul Stanhope, I have not your dreaming. 125
Example 8.5 Paul Stanhope, Jandamarra: Sing for the Country, 127
Lirrga Wangga song and dance.
Example 8.6 Paul Stanhope, Jandamarra: Sing for the Country, 128
Dirrari Lament.
Example 9.1 Paul Jarman, Pemulwuy. 132
Example 9.2 Dan Walker, Sky Song. 134
Example 9.3 Dan Walker, Laudate for Another Place, Another Time 135
Example 9.4 Dan Walker, Nyungar Alleluia 137
Example 9.5 Joseph Twist, Rain Dream. 139
Example 9.6 Joseph Twist, On the Night Train. 140
Example 9.7 Joseph Twist, How Shall We Sing in a Strange Land? 142
vii
List of Tables
Tables
1 Ross Edwards, Text from Mountain Chant. 54
2 Text and translations for Psalm 1 and Psalm 130. 64
viii
Abstract
This dissertation examines Australian choral music that is influenced by
indigenous Aboriginal music and traditions and the Australian landscape. It traces the
evolution of choral composition in Australia, from the early nineteenth century through to
modern times, and examines the indigenous Aboriginal music and traditions that date
back over 50,000 years.
The study begins with an overview of the evolution of Australian choral music,
including the establishment of university programs, choral societies, professional arts
organizations, and choral ensembles. Chapter two examines the music of the indigenous
Aboriginal people, and the relationship between the music, the traditions, and the land.
The remainder of this dissertation focuses on the works of nine Australian composers,
Peter Sculthorpe (1929 – 2014), Ross Edwards (b. 1943), Stephen Leek (b. 1959), Sarah
Hopkins (b. 1958), Iain Grandage (b. 1970), Paul Stanhope (b. 1969), Paul Jarman (b.
1971), Dan Walker (b. 1978), and Joseph Twist (b. 1982). The works of each of these
composers are highly influenced by elements of the Australian landscape as well as
aspects of Aboriginal culture. The dissertation concludes with a catalogue of the
compositions featured in this study, with information including length of work, publisher
information, and web addresses for each composer.
1
Introduction
Australian indigenous music traditions and the connection between song and the
landscape have developed over tens of thousands of years.
1
Since the first white settlers
arrived in 1770, Australians have been captivated by their colorful surroundings and rich
landscape. Throughout the past 150 years, Australian composers have worked toward
establishing an identity based on these indigenous traditions, the unique landscape, and
the influence of their close geographical neighbors.
As was the case in many geographical areas of the world, the choral music that
was performed during the early years of white settlement in Australia was made up
predominantly of European music that was simply transplanted into the new settlements
with no regard for local culture or music traditions. Music has always played an
important role in the culture of the indigenous people of Australia, however, the new
settlers that arrived in the late eighteenth century and into the nineteenth century had little
interest in the existing population or their traditions.
2
During the nineteenth century, most of the choral music performed in the
communities was of European origin or was made up of folk songs from England,
Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. As music schools were not established in Australia until the
1960s, those interested in composition were required to travel abroad, often to Europe, in
order to study. This encouraged the preoccupation with the music of Europe and the
British Isles well into the twentieth century. Increased government support of the arts,
1
Karen Grylls, “Voices of the Pacific: the (ch)oral traditions of Oceania,” in The Cambridge Companion to
Choral Music, ed. André de Quadros (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012), 177.
2
Stuart Macintyre, A Concise History of Australia (UK: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 1.
2
which led to the establishment of major arts organizations in the second half of the
twentieth century, stimulated the Australian artistic world and led to increased support for
local composition. In addition to this support, the establishment of professional choral
organizations and choral publishing companies allowed for the publication and promotion
of Australian choral music both locally and abroad. Chapter one will explore the history
of choral composition in Australia, from the first settlers, through to the twenty-first
century.
Australia possesses a unique landscape. It is one of the least populated areas of
the world and is full of wide-open spaces, while being surrounded by ocean. From the
coastal rainforests, to the dry, barren desert, it is not surprising that these distinctive
features have played a significant role in shaping a unique musical soundscape. The
influence of nature was first seen in the works of Henry Tate (1873 – 1926) and Percy
Grainger (1882 – 1961) in the first half of the nineteenth century. However, it wasn’t
until the twentieth century that composers became more closely acquainted with their
adopted country and began to embrace the unique qualities found in the Australian
rainforests, the outback, and the vast surrounding ocean. In addition to the landscape,
composers became more interested in the traditional music of the Indigenous Aborigines.
Chapter two will explore both the landscape and the music of the Aboriginal people along
with their traditions and their connection to the land.
Chapter three discusses the choral music of Peter Sculthorpe (1929 – 2014), who,
with the encouragement of Percy Grainger, began to explore both the Australian
landscape as well as the musical offerings of neighboring countries. Sculthorpe was one
of the first Australian composers to take an interest in the music and traditions of the
3
Indigenous Aborigines. His work influenced many future composers, including Ross
Edwards (b. 1943), whose compositions and compositional influences will be examined
in chapter four. When, as a university student, Edwards became disillusioned with
studying only the music of Western Europe, he began to listen carefully to the music
found in nature, particularly the sounds of birds, insects, and frogs. These sounds are
found throughout both his instrumental and choral compositions.
The music of Stephen Leek (b. 1959), discussed in chapter five, frequently
references the Australian landscape. He also has an interest in the music of Indigenous
Australia and the “Dreamtime” stories (discussed in chapter two). Leek’s fondness for
aleatoric music and improvisation has resulted in several works that allow listeners to be
transported to another place, either through the birdcalls and natural sounds of a
rainforest, or the stark, dry Australian outback.
Chapter six examines the music of Sarah Hopkins (b. 1958), who has spent time
in remote Aboriginal communities, and whose music symbolizes a connection to the
landscape. Chapter seven discusses the music of Iain Grandage (b. 1970) and Paul
Stanhope (b. 1969). These two young composers have written compositions that not only
show the influence of their surrounding environments, but they also pay tribute to the
plight of the Aborigines while promoting and celebrating the Indigenous traditions and
culture.
Chapter seven discusses three young, emerging composers—Paul Jarman
(b. 1971), Dan Walker (b. 1978), and Joseph Twist (b. 1982). While these composers are
still in the early stages of their careers, they have all made significant contributions to the
Australian choral repertoire, and their musical connection to the Australian landscape and
4
indigenous traditions should not be overlooked.
5
Chapter 1
An Overview of Australian Choral Music:
Colonial Times to the Modern Era
Landing in Botany Bay in 1770, Captain James Cook (1728 – 1779) described
Australia as a land “full of beauty and promise.”
1
This dispelled former beliefs that the
continent was made up entirely of “flat and miserable desert”
2
as the English explorer
William Dampier (1651 – 1715) had reported after his brief time in the north western part
of the continent in 1688.
3
1776 marks the United States declaration of Independence
forcing the British to relocate their convict population. Therefore, when British ships
under the leadership of Arthur Phillips returned to Australian shores in 1788, they
brought with them six ships of convicts, including 550 men and 220 women, and 200
soldiers.
4
These became the first non-indigenous settlers of New South Wales.
The non-convict settlers that arrived in the early nineteenth century included
immigrants from Germany, Ireland, England, Wales, and Scotland and brought with them
the traditions and music of their native countries. Catherine Fitzpatrick (dates unknown),
an Irish immigrant, was thought to have been the first choral conductor in Australia. She
arrived in New South Wales in 1811 and soon after organized a small group to sing for
mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, the first Catholic Church in Australia. She
1
Alexander Sutherland & George Sutherland, The History of Australia and New Zealand (London:
Longmans, Green, and Co., 1894), 7.
2
Ibid, 4.
3
J. Bach, “William Dampier,” Australian Dictionary of Biography, accessed April 26, 2015,
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dampier-william-1951.
4
Sutherland and Sutherland, The History of Australia and New Zealand, 9.
6
worked at St. Mary’s as the director of music from 1818 until 1843.
5
Welsh immigrants
brought with them hymn singing festivals and eisteddfods (competitive festivals), and the
German Lutheran settlers brought German vocal traditions and established choral
societies. In 1836, German Lutheran immigrants on Kangaroo Island founded the
Adelaider Liedertafel, the first established male choir in Australia.
6
During the early years of Australian settlement, the majority of songs that were
written centered on the hardships of convict life. As the population expanded, the
subjects grew to include stories of life on the land. The folk songs of the British Isles also
played a significant role in the standard repertoire sung both in schools and in the
community and these songs remained in the repertoire well into the early twentieth
century.
Choral societies, first established by the German immigrants, began flourishing
from the mid-nineteenth century. With a growing middle class, choral societies became a
popular social activity, first in the southeast of the country and later further north and in
the west. The repertoire was mostly oratorio including works such as George Frideric
Handel’s (1685 – 1759) Messiah, Felix Mendelssohn’s (1809 – 1847) Elijah, and Joseph
Haydn’s (1732 – 1809) The Creation. The Royal Philharmonic Society, established in
Melbourne in 1853, continues to perform Handel’s Messiah at least once every year.
7
Other popular works included works by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750), Edward
Elgar (1857 – 1934), and William Walton (1902 – 1983).
5
Grylls, “Voices of the Pacific: the (ch)oral traditions of Oceania,” 180.
6
Sutherland and Sutherland, The History of Australia and New Zealand, 180.
7
The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir, “About,” Royal Melbourne Philharmonic, accessed April 26,
2015, http://rmp.org.au/about/.
7
Three choral societies were established in Sydney between 1836 and 1886. A
Philharmonic Society (1836), the Sydney Choral Society (1870s), and the Royal
Philharmonic Society of Sydney (1886). In 1841, the South Australian Glee Club was
established, followed by the South Australian Philharmonic Society in 1842, and the
Madrigal Society in 1855. In the second half of the nineteenth century choral societies
were formed in Western Australia including the Perth Musical Union in the 1880s, and in
Queensland, several groups were established between 1875 and 1920. These included
groups in the regional town of Toowoomba, as well as the South Brisbane Philharmonic
Society (1862), and the South Brisbane Harmonic Society (1870). In Tasmania, the
Hobart Choral Society began in 1843, and as the country expanded and more cities were
established, choral groups emerged in both Canberra and Darwin in the 1920s. The first
professional orchestra in Australia was not established until 1932; therefore, with the
exception of operatic performances, it was “within the choral societies that serious
professional musical life revolved.”
8
The music being performed in nineteenth century Australia was predominantly
the music that was brought over by the early settlers. It was a mix of European classical
music (both choral and instrumental), primarily from the eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries, along with the folk songs of the British Isles.
9
The immigrant’s approach to music was much the same as their approach to
everyday life, they wished to hear and perform the music that was familiar to them.
Martin (2012) noted that,
8
Frank Callaway & David Tunley, eds., Australian Composition in the Twentieth Century (London: Oxford
University Press, 1979), 2.
9
Roger Covell, Australia’s music—Themes of a New Society (Victoria: Sun Books, 1967), xi.
8
For many migrants the removal from a geographic place can be an intensely
painful experience. Early settlers to Australia thought of the Australian landscape
as a vast uninhabited wilderness – unfamiliar, unsettling, and alien in many ways.
Hardly surprisingly, they filled their new world with the things that were familiar.
They brought animals with them, laid out gardens with plants brought from
‘home’, and built houses in the style they knew and loved best.
10
The preoccupation with the familiar cultural traditions of Europe and the British
Isles did not inspire early composers to explore new styles of composition. In addition to
this, due to there being no established music schools in Australia, early composers were
required to travel abroad in order to study composition. Therefore, when the first
Australian composers began to write music, the music was based on the European styles
they had studied abroad.
11
Alfred Hill (1870 – 1960) was one of the earliest Australian composers. He
studied at the Leipzig Conservatory (1887 – 1891),
12
and upon returning to Australia he
brought with him the compositional styles and teaching practices of Germany,
specifically those of Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann (1810 – 1856), and Max
Bruch (1838 – 1920). Hill spent much of his childhood in New Zealand and although
most of his compositions show evidence of his time in Germany, he was also one of the
first composers to show interest in indigenous traditions. His opera Tapu (1902 – 3) and
his cantata Hinemoa (1896) are written using European harmonies—however the text and
storylines are based on Maori folklore. He also wrote two choral arrangements of Waiata
10
Ruth Lee Martin, “Insight: music, landscape and the imagination,” Resonate Magazine (March 2012),
accessed January 18, 2015, http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/article/insight-music-landscape-and-
the-imagination.
11
Debra Shearer, Emerging Voices in Australian Choral Music—Selected Works of Sculthorpe, Boyd,
Edwards, Hopkins, Maclean, Leek, Stanhope, Grandage, Orlovich and Atherton (Dissertation, Indiana
University, 2003), 5.
12
Warren Bebbington, ed. The Oxford Companion to Australian Music (Melbourne: Oxford University
Press, 1997), 267.
9
poi: for mixed choir and men’s choir (1946),
13
based on his vocal setting of a Maori poi
14
song. This work was later arranged for women’s choir by Hal Evans (1959).
15
In addition
to his interest in Maori songs and folklore, he also published several collections of
Australian Aboriginal and New Guinean music.
16
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Australia produced
several noteworthy composers. George William Louis Marshall-Hall (1862 – 1915),
Mona McBurney (1862 – 1932), Florence Donaldson Ewart (1864 – 1949), Arundel
Orchard (1867 – 1961), Ernest Hutcheson (1871 – 1951), and George F. Boyle (1886 –
1948) all wrote in the older European style, while Ernest Edwin Philip Truman (1869 –
1948) and Percy Brier (1885 – 1970) made attempts to incorporate Australian cultural
aspects into their music. Brier spent his professional life in Brisbane and formed the
Indooroopilly Choral Society (1937 – 1942). Although he was involved in choral music
for much of his life, his compositions were for the most part for solo piano, voice, or
chamber ensemble.
17
Truman primarily wrote organ music and operettas. His operetta,
13
WorldCat, “Waiata poi,” accessed November 25, 2015, http://www.worldcat.org/title/waiata-poi-maori-
poi-song-arranged-for-female-voices-by-hal-evans-words-and-music-by-a-hill-staff-and-tonic-sol-fa-
notation/oclc/498606084/editions?referer=di&editionsView=true
14
Maori poi is a ball on a rope used in many Maori dances and songs. The performers twirl one or more poi
in unison with other dancers, often striking the ball to change direction, producing a percussive sound.
15
WorldCat, “Waiata poi,” accessed November 25, 2015, http://www.worldcat.org/title/waiata-poi-maori-
poi-song-arranged-for-female-voices-by-hal-evans-words-and-music-by-a-hill-staff-and-tonic-sol-fa-
notation/oclc/498606084/editions?referer=di&editionsView=true
16
Shearer, Emerging Voices in Australian Choral Music, 5-6.
17
Peter Roennfeldt, “Percy Brier – Case Study of a Complete Musician in the Digital Age,” 11
th
Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference Proceedings, 2013, accessed December 4, 2015,
http://www98.griffith.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/handle/10072/57211/91716_1.pdf
10
Club Life, uses the text of well-known Australian poet Andrew Barton Paterson (1864 –
1941).
18
It was in the works of one of Marshall-Hall’s students, Henry Tate (1873 – 1926)
along with the works of Percy Grainger that an Australian nationalistic school of
composition first emerged. Tate studied composition at a young age with English born
composer, Marshall-Hall at Melbourne University. In a series of compositions called
Australian Musical Possibilities (1924), Tate attempted to portray an “Australian
vocabulary of sounds related to the sounds of the bush, the natural noises of rusting bark
and wind-stirred eucalypts and, in particular, to the distinctive calls of bush birds.”
19
Not
long before his death, he published a series of articles where he advocated birdsong as the
basis for developing a nationalistic style in Australia. Although Tate did not live to see
whether this prophecy would be realized, examples of birdsong can be seen in the works
of Peter Sculthorpe, David Lumsdaine (b.1931), and Ross Edwards.
Percy Grainger has often been referred to as the Australian Charles Ives (1874-
1954). Both Ives and Grainger pushed the boundaries of the style established in Europe.
Grainger wrote in a variety of styles and genres including “experimental pieces, original
works, folk-settings and a considerable number of transcriptions and free arrangements of
music borrowed from composers such as Edvard Grieg (1843-1907), John Dowland
(1563-1626), John Dunstable (1390-1453), Claude Le Jeune (1528-1600), and Guillaume
Machaut (1300-1377).”
20
Grainger’s choral works fall into three categories: original
18
Shearer, Emerging Voices in Australian Choral Music, 7.
19
Covell, Australia’s music—Themes of a New Society, 104.
20
Shearer, Emerging Voices in Australian Choral Music, 9.
11
works, folk-song settings, and transcriptions, and his compositional output influenced the
Australian composers that followed him.
21
He was one of the first composers to
experiment with the wax cylinder phonograph that he used on ethno-musicological trips
gathering folk songs. He also looked to neighboring lands for inspiration, and encouraged
a young Peter Sculthorpe in this direction, igniting Sculthorpe’s interest in the music of
the Balinese gamelan and the Japanese gagaku.
22
The first semi-professional orchestras were established early in the twentieth
century with both the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Sydney Symphony
Orchestra beginning as semi-professional groups. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
was established in 1906 followed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra two years later.
23
It
wasn’t until the 1930s and 1940s that full-sized professional orchestras were established
throughout the country. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra was the first full-sized
professional orchestra, established in 1932, closely followed by the Adelaide Symphony
Orchestra in 1936. In the following decade, professional orchestras were established in
Sydney and Queensland (1946), Tasmania (1948), and Western Australia (1949).
24
Australian orchestral compositions grew and developed during this time, with national
orchestras now available to play Australian compositions.
The 1960 and 1970s brought a new interest in Australian choral compositions.
There were numerous contributing factors to this change. Several organizations were
21
Robert J.Ward, “Love Verses from the “Song of Solomon” by Percy A. Grainger,” Choral Journal
(September 2011): 10.
22
Shearer, Emerging Voices in Australian Choral Music, 10.
23
Pleskun, Stephen, ed. A Chronological History of Australian Composers and Their Compositions:
Volume 1: 1901-1954. (Xlibris, 2012), 118-138.
24
Bebbington, The Oxford Companion to Australian Music, 478-583.
12
established during this time, including the Australia Council, the Australian Music
Centre, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Musica Viva, allowing for an
increase in compositional output, a growth in performance and recording opportunities,
and new initiatives for publishing and documenting Australian music. After a long period
of obscurity, Australian composition began to thrive, and increased financial support
allowed composers to dedicate themselves to their art.
Due in part to a federal government that was interested in supporting and
promoting the arts, many organizations began to support new Australian compositions in
the 1960s and 1970s. Under the leadership of Prime Ministers Harold Holt (1908 – 1967)
and John Gorton (1911 – 2002), government-funded publications such as Andrew
McCredie’s Survey of Music Composition in Australia (1969) emerged. The Whitlam
government, elected in 1972, continued this support by expanding the Australia Council
to its present form (1975), which was immediately followed by the establishment of the
Australian Music Centre (1975).
In 1963, John Hopkins was appointed as Director of Music of the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Australia’s public broadcaster. His leadership led to
the ABC’s support of new works on radio and in the concert hall. The Australia Council
for the Arts is the Australian Government’s arts funding and advisory body and provides
funding to organizations and individuals for the development and promotion of
Australian music both locally and abroad. The Australian Music Centre represents
Australian composers and sound artists; manages development programs for young and
emerging composers; provides news and reviews; publishes both sheet music and books;
13
produces educational resources; and provides a library collection of over 30,000 items by
over 600 artists.
25
Musica Viva, Australia’s oldest independent professional performing arts
organization was established in 1945 but did not begin commissioning until 1966. This
organization, specializing in chamber music, relies on the financial support of donors,
funding partners, government, corporations, and volunteers.
26
The increase in arts
organizations and government funding led to a remarkable increase in commissioned
works during this time. In 1961, only three works were commissioned. However, by the
end of 1970, at least eighty-five commissioned works had appeared.
27
Another contributor to the growth in Australian composition in the second half of
the twentieth century was the increase in higher music education options between 1965
and 1975. Several large universities, including Monash University and La Trobe
University in Melbourne, and the University of New South Wales in Sydney, established
music schools at this time and appointed prominent Australian composers to university
teaching positions. In addition to these universities, the Canberra School of Music opened
in 1965 and the Victorian College of Arts, under the direction of John Hopkins, opened in
1974.
28
This led not only to the rise in the status of composition within Australia, but also
meant that young composers were no longer required to travel abroad in order to learn
25
Australian Music Centre, “About the Australian Music Centre,” accessed January 18, 2015,
http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/about.
26
Musica Viva, “The History of Musica Viva,” accessed January 18, 2015,
http://www.musicaviva.com.au/about-us/history.
27
David Tunley. “A Decade of Musical Composition in Australia: 1960 – 1970,” in Studies in Music
(Perth: University of Western Australia Press, 1971), 66-76.
28
Gordon Kerry, New Classical Music: Composing Australia (Sydney: University of New South Wales
Press, 2009), 5.
14
compositional techniques. Some notable composers at this time include Larry Sitsky (b.
1934), George Dreyfuss (b. 1928), Peter Sculthorpe, Richard Meale (1932 – 2009), Colin
Brumby (b. 1933), and Nigel Butterley (b. 1935).
As Australian choral compositions became more prominent, it was important that
these compositions be published within Australia, and promoted abroad. Morton Music is
the leading publisher of Australian choral music. Founded in 1988 by Ralph and Graeme
Morton, Morton Music concentrates exclusively on publishing the music of Australian
composers. Other notable Australian publishers of choral music include Mark O’Leary,
who publishes the Young Voices of Melbourne Choral Series—catering specifically to
treble voice choirs—and the Australian Music Centre.
Late in the twentieth century, the rapidly expanding world of Australian choral
composition led to local compositions rising in prominence in concert programming. The
Australian Voices, founded in 1993 by Stephen Leek and Graeme Morton (b. 1952), was
one of the first choral organizations to make the performance and promotion of
Australian choral music a major priority. Under the artistic leadership of Graeme Morton
(1993 – 1996) and Stephen Leek (1996 – 2009), The Australian Voices commissioned
hundreds of new works and promoted these works through recordings and tours to the
United Kingdom, the United States of America, Europe, South America, Asia, and New
Zealand.
Artistic Director Lyn Williams (b. 1963) founded the Sydney Children’s Choir in
1989. In 1997, the choir became a part of the Gondwana group of ensembles, which now
includes six choirs catering to singers from ages six to twenty-five. In 2008, the newest
ensemble was established—the Gondwana National Indigenous Children’s Choir. This
15
ensemble gives Indigenous youth the opportunity to connect with their culture and share
it with the greater community, both nationally and internationally. The Gondwana
organization has been instrumental in promoting and advocating the performance of
Australian choral music through commissions, composition summer programs,
performances, and recordings.
Another advocate for Australian choral music is the Brisbane-based Voices of
Birralee. Founded in 1995 and now comprising six ensembles, this organization is known
for commissioning and performing Australian choral repertoire and for establishing the
Pemulwuy National Male Voice Festival. This triennial festival, which began in 2008,
has now commissioned over twenty-five Australian works for male voices.
Other ensembles which have contributed to the output and promotion of
Australian composition since 1990 include: The Song Company, established in
Melbourne in 1984; the Sydney Chamber Choir, established in 1975; Voyces, established
in Perth in 2011; the Young Voices of Melbourne, established in 1990; and the National
Youth Choir of Australia, established in 1995 and made up of members from throughout
Australia.
Although the organizations mentioned above have been highlighted due to their
dedication to the programming and promotion of Australian choral music, it is not
unusual in the twenty-first century to find Australian compositions on programs for
school choirs, community groups, and professional ensembles. Much of this change in
programming is due to the recent accessibility of Australian compositions. Until the late
twentieth century, there was little Australian choral repertoire available; of what was
available, even less was accessible to the amateur choir. Stephen Leek was a forerunner
16
in this area and early in his compositional career, acknowledged the need for good quality
Australian choral repertoire for all levels of ensemble. An example of this type of
repertoire is found in his Island Songs (1995), based on the melodies of the Torres Strait
Islands, situated to the north of Australia’s Cape York Peninsula. These three short folk
songs are available for treble voices or mixed voices and can be performed with or
without accompaniment. This title is just one example of many works by Leek that can be
performed by choirs of all levels. Other younger composers who have written for school
and community ensembles include Harley Mead (1971 – 2014), Dan Walker (b. 1978),
Sherelle Eyles (b. 1972), and Paul Jarman (b. 1971). These composers are becoming the
leaders of the next generation of Australian composers.
17
Chapter 2
The Unique Properties of the Australian Landscape
and the Music and Traditions of the Australian Aborigines
Australians have long had a love affair with their landscape. The combination of
dry arid land, lush tropical rainforests, the wildlife, and the vast expanse of ocean is
unique; many Australians feel connected to the land- and seascapes, feeling that they are
integral parts of their identity. The contrast between land and sea, and between inland and
coastal regions, provides composers with endless inspiration and a variety of possibilities
for creating different sounds. Composers have used a variety of approaches when
utilizing the landscape as a basis for their compositions. Those that have become known
for their connection to the landscape include Margaret Sutherland (1897 – 1984), Peter
Sculthorpe, Ross Edwards, Stephen Leek, Anne Boyd (b. 1946), Sarah Hopkins, Nigel
Westlake (b. 1958), and Paul Stanhope. These composers have approached composition
in different ways and each have their own unique way of connecting to the environment.
Many have chosen to live or travel to areas outside the large cities, preferring to spend
time listening to the natural sounds of the bush, as will be discussed in greater detail in
forthcoming chapters.
Since Henry Tate’s early interest in birdsong, Australian composers have been
searching for a way to establish a national identity through their music. Visual artists had
long been fascinated by the Australian countryside before composers began taking an
interest in their natural surroundings. Had Percy Grainger spent more time in his home
country, he may have made more of an impact in this respect; although he showed some
18
interest in creating a distinct Australian sound, his greatest impact in this area may have
been his words of encouragement to a young Peter Sculthorpe. Grainger encouraged
Sculthorpe to reject the European style of composition and to look closer to home for
inspiration. Sculthorpe heeded his advice, looking specifically to the landscape of his
own country, as well as to Asia, for inspiration.
Ross Edwards spent seven years living in a village in Pearl Beach, on the New
South Wales coast in the mid-1970s. He found that living in this natural environment
helped define his sound world. He was particularly interested in the sounds of frogs,
insects, and birds—sounds that he represents in his music through tiny, repetitive motifs.
1
Although Edwards now lives in Sydney, he regularly travels to the Blue Mountains where
he finds inspiration for his music.
Paul Stanhope is influenced by the landscape and his surroundings, regardless of
whether this is in the outback, by the ocean, or in an urban environment. He enjoys
exploring and connecting with the environment and uses this as inspiration for his
compositions. For example, his vocal song cycle, Sea Chronicles (1999) represents the
relationship between people and the sea.
2
Stanhope credits Sculthorpe with inspiring him
to explore his surroundings and to embrace Australia’s distinction from Europe.
3
To understand the attachment that Australians feel to their environment and the
way this has affected the establishment of an Australian musical soundscape, one must
1
Anne Boyd, The Soundscapes of Australia, ed. Fiona Richards (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Company,
2007), 13.
2
Ibid, 2.
3
Ibid.
19
also consider the Indigenous music of the Australian Aborigines and the connection
between their songs, traditions, and the land.
Long before European music arrived on the shores of colonial Australia, music
had played a central role in the lives and traditions of the Australian Aborigines and
Torres Strait Islanders. This music however, is difficult to trace, and to interpret and
understand. There are more than two hundred and fifty languages in Aboriginal Australia.
In addition to this, the music traditions practiced in the Kimberley area of Western
Australia, Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, and Cape York in North Queensland
all possess unique characteristics (See Appendix B).
Traditional Aboriginal religious beliefs are centered on a concept known as the
“Dreamtime.” The Dreamtime, or “Dreaming” refers to “myths explaining the origin of
Aboriginal land, people and natural phenomena; it is considered to be the source of
Aboriginal social organization and mores (customs); it provides the blueprint for
Aboriginal law; and it describes the special, ‘totemic’ relationship that individual
Aboriginal people have with the natural world.”
4
The Dreamtime is the Aboriginals’
version of creation and explains how their ancestor creator-heroes arrived, formed the
land, produced animals and plant life, gave birth to humans, and taught them how to sing,
speak, and behave. The ancestor creator-heroes then disappeared into the land and sea
and the Aboriginal people believe that their creative powers now exist in nature.
Ceremonial rituals continue to be performed on a regular basis in order to reactivate the
creative powers of the ancestors. The songs sung at these ceremonies have been passed
down through generations from the time of the Dreamtime.
4
Music in Australia, “Australian Indigenous Music Performance,” accessed January 21, 2015,
http://musicinaustralia.org.au/index.php?title=Australian_Indigenous_Music_Performance.
20
Traditionally, Aboriginal music is primarily vocal, sung by a soloist or a group of
male or female singers, in unison. Rarely do male and female singers perform together. In
Arnhem Land as well as in the York Peninsula and on the far western coast, the
accompaniment is usually percussive, played on clapsticks, or sometimes groups of
female singers may incorporate body percussion such as handclaps. Many of the central
desert tribes in North Queensland prefer clashing boomerangs or sticks beaten on the
ground, or a didjeridu may also be used.
5
A didjeridu is made from a hollow tree branch
or bored bamboo. The length determines how low the fundamental will be—the longer
the trunk, the lower the fundamental. Roederer (1973) reports that “…[t]he fundamental
is the vibrating element that sustains prefixed frequencies in the instrument.” He
continues, noting that the fundamental is produced by “…the length and bore of the
column of the didjeridu along which air passes.”
6
The didjeridu produces, primarily, one
fundamental note but is also capable of producing overtones. These, “when combined
with vocalizations, tonguing, and guttural shrieks,” contribute to complex timbres and
rhythms.
7
Once a tree trunk is hollowed to the desired pitch, the didjeridu may be given a
name based on the sound it makes. For example, one didjeridu was named after the
morning star because it was thought that the low fundamental was appropriate for that
song. Another didjeridu that was much higher in pitch was named after a Yirritja moiety
spirit, a spirit from the Yirritja clan, which descended from the Dreamtime. Other
instruments are named after birds and animals such as the Brolga, a swamp bird. The
5
Music in Australia, “Australian Indigenous Music Performance,” (accessed January 21, 2015).
6
Juan Roederer, The Physics and Psychophysics of Music: An Introduction (New York: Springer-Verlag,
1973), 141.
7
Bebbington, The Oxford Companion to Australian Music, 178.
21
didjeridu may be painted to reflect its name. The aborigines believe that the power of the
ancestor flows through the paintbrush to the didjeridu and that the flow of sound
“recreates the movements of ancestors who first danced the forms of the land and sea. In
this way, landscapes and seascapes are brought into the bodies of didjeridu players,
singers and dancers to be presenced in their ritual movements.”
8
The sounds produced on the didjeridu represent the sounds of the environment,
including imitations of birds and animals. These sounds are then combined with singing
and dance movements to tell stories and pass traditions from one generation to the next.
A skilled didjeridu player is highly respected and will often travel with a song-man. A
song-man is chosen by the community and acts as a custodian of the songs, dances, and
land, which have been a part of his clan since the Dreamtime.
9
In most compositions, the
song-man or another person will play clap sticks, either to maintain beat, or to create a
rhythmic ostinato to suit the song being performed.
10
The study, recording, and notation of Aboriginal song began as early as the
beginning of the nineteenth century. Isaac Nathan (1790 – 1864), an Englishman who
immigrated to Sydney in 1841 wrote a collection of works titled, The Southern
Euphrosyne and Australian Miscellany (1849).
11
It is the first known publication that
8
Fiona Magowan, Melodies of Mourning: Music and Emotion in Northern Australia (Crawley: University
of Western Australia Press, 2007), 107.
9
Jo Dyer, “Living Songs: Music, Law and Culture in Aboriginal Australia,” Resonate Magazine (March
2009), accessed January 20, 2015, http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/article/living-songs-music-
law-and-culture-in-aboriginal-australia.
10
William P. Malm, Music Cultures of the Pacific, the Near East, and Asia (New Jersey: Pretice Hall,
1996), 5.
11
Shearer, Emerging Voices in Australian Choral Music, 3.
22
includes transcriptions of Aboriginal melodies, the most famous being, “Koorinada
Braia.”
Alfred Hill’s second wife, Mirrie (1892-1986) used several Aboriginal songs
collected by anthropologist Charles Pearcy Mountford (1890 – 1976) in the mid-
twentieth century in her compositions, including her Symphony in A, Arnhem Land.
Anthropologist, E. Harold Davies (1867-1947) traveled to Koonibba, on the west coast of
South Australia in 1928 and followed that expedition with a trip to Hermannsburg in
Central Australia a year later. During this time, he recorded almost one hundred
Aboriginal songs. The songs were never notated but some characteristics were discovered
that were present in most of the songs found in these locations. These characteristics
included the natural ornamentation, which did not disturb the main tonal outline, the
almost infallible pitch sense, and the use of the pentatonic scale.
12
The study of Aboriginal dance and music is difficult due to both the remote areas
in which they take place, and because of their very secretive nature. Although public
performances do take place, often referred to as Corroborees, many of the ceremonies
that train men and women in religious beliefs and mores are kept secret. There are over
two hundred and fifty Aboriginal clans in Australia and different clans have different
traditions and rules concerning public performance. While one clan may have selections
of songs that may be sung all over the country, another clan may only perform songs and
dances with the strict permission of the owner-clan as a whole. Some songs remain
secretive and cannot be sung, even with permission, while other songs can only be sung
12
E. Harold Davies, “Aboriginal Songs of Central and Southern Australia,” Oceania Vol.2 No.4 (June
1932): 465-466.
23
at particular locations.
13
Some songs have been entirely lost due to Aboriginal clans being
driven off the land that is associated with those songs. Furthermore, due to poor relations
between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians, there has been little support for
Aboriginal music and culture.
14
It has only been since the latter part of the twentieth century that an active interest
has been shown in the culture and ceremonial traditions of the Aboriginal people. In
2002, from a meeting of senior Aboriginal leaders and non-Aboriginal academics in
Gunyara, Arnhem Land, a statement emerged explaining the significance of music in
Aboriginal culture:
Songs, dances and ceremonial performances form the core of [Aboriginal]
cultures in Australia. It is through song, dance and associated ceremony that
indigenous people sustain their cultures and maintain the Law and a sense of self
within the world. Performance traditions are the foundation of social and personal
well being, and with the ever-increasing loss of these traditions, the toll grows
every year. The preservation of performance traditions is therefore one of the
highest priorities for Indigenous people.
Indigenous songs should also be a deeply valued part of the Australian
cultural heritage. They represent the great classical music of this land. These
ancient musical traditions were once everywhere in Australia, and are now in
danger of being lost forever. Indigenous performances are one of our most rich
and beautiful forms of artistic expression, and yet they remain unheard and
invisible.
15
As a consequence of the heightened interest in Aboriginal culture, many
Indigenous performers are taking steps to bring their music, dance, and culture to both the
rest of Australia and the world. In addition to the Garma Festival of Traditional Culture,
13
Dyer, “Living Songs: Music, Law and Culture in Aboriginal Australia,”, accessed January 20, 2015.
14
Ibid.
15
Garma Statement on Indigenous Music and Performance. Issued by the Garma Symposium on
Indigenous Performance Research, convened at Gunyangara, Gove Peninsula, August 2002, accessed
January 20, 2015, http://www.aboriginalartists.com.au/NRP_statement.htm
24
an annual event since 1998, several educational events have emerged. The Ngarinyin
Culture College runs courses in the Kimberley based around music and dance. The
Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA), established in the 1970s, is
concerned with promoting Aboriginal culture, language, dance, and music. Both the
Tjapukai Dance Theatre in North Queensland, and the Bangarra Dance Theatre in Sydney
have made important steps in advocating Indigenous dance and music practices
throughout Australia and on the international stage.
There still remains a great divide between the music and traditions of Indigenous
Australians and the mainstream classical music heard in most concert halls. However,
over the last century, there has been a notable increase in mergers between the Asian,
European, and North American music influencing Australian composers, and the
Indigenous and natural influences found within the Australian landscape. The latter will
be discussed in the following chapters related to the music of Peter Sculthorpe, Ross
Edwards, Stephen Leek, Sarah Hopkins, Iain Grandage, Paul Stanhope, Paul Jarman, Dan
Walker, and Joseph Twist.
25
Chapter 3
The Choral Music of Peter Sculthorpe and
the Beginnings of an Australian Musical Identity
Peter Joseph Sculthorpe was born in 1929 in Launceston, Tasmania. His father,
Joshua, encouraged his sons to participate in sporting and outdoor activities, while his
mother, Edna, encouraged Peter’s interest in painting and writing. During Peter’s early
years, the Sculthorpe family lived in a rural area, outside of the city, where he was
encouraged to find solo activities to keep himself occupied. His musical education began
at the age of eight, when he began piano lessons
1
and it was during his early formative
years that he developed a passion for composition.
In 1946, Sculthorpe studied composition with Raymond Lambert (1914 – 1997) at
the University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. His early exposure to classical
music had been limited, however he soon discovered Claude Debussy’s (1862 – 1918)
Préludes and heard his use of the whole tone scale, a device that Sculthorpe had
previously believed to be his own invention.
2
Sculthorpe found inspiration in the compositions of Ernest Bloch (1880 – 1959),
Frederick Delius (1862 – 1934), Arnold Schoenberg (1874 – 1951), and Alban Berg
(1885 – 1935). Several musical organizations within Melbourne supplied performance
outlets for his early compositions. The British Music Society, the Guild of Australian
Composers, and the Australian Literary Society all offered concerts featuring new
Australian compositions. Sculthorpe realized at an early age that Australian audiences
1
Michael Hannan, Peter Sculthorpe: his music and ideas (St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1982),
2.
2
Ibid, 3.
26
had an expectation that new works would reflect the aesthetic of the European works of
the past. He found that he did not personally connect with this aesthetic and began to seek
out a sound that connected to his surroundings and which represented his own country.
3
In 1951, Sculthorpe returned to Launceston and opened a sporting goods store
with his brother. During this time, he began exploring the music of the Tasmanian
Aborigines. This led to his first work influenced by the music of Indigenous Australia,
Sonatina (1954), a three-movement work for piano. Sculthorpe based this work on an
Aboriginal legend, where Yoonecara, the tribal leader, travels to a land beyond the setting
sun in order to visit his ancestor, Byama.
4
Sculthorpe uses the story as motivation for
musical content. The work begins with a slow introduction, as Yoonecara stands on a
cliff, looking over the plain, contemplating his long journey. The faster, second section,
represents his movement across the land, and the third section returns to the slower tempo
as Yoonecara realizes that Byama cannot be reached through physical means. The second
movement, ethereal in nature, represents the spiritual journey and meeting between
Yoonecara and Byama. The final movement culminates with rejoicing and celebration as
Yoonecara returns to the tribe.
5
In 1958, Sculthorpe was awarded the first Lizette Bentwich Scholarship and
travelled to Oxford, England where he conducted research on twentieth century musical
form. Here he discovered the music of Olivier Messiaen (1908 – 1992) and the early
music of Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928 – 2007). In Oxford, Sculthorpe met composer
3
Hannan, Peter Sculthorpe: his music and ideas, 7.
4
W.E. Thomas, Some Myths and Legends of the Australian Aboriginal (Melbourne: Forgotten Books,
2007), 39-42.
5
Hannan, Peter Sculthorpe: his music and ideas, 32.
27
Wilfrid Mellers (1914 - 2008) who encouraged him to explore a compositional style that
reflected his own country. Sculthorpe returned to Australia in 1960 due to his father’s
ailing health and stayed in Tasmania to be with his mother following his father’s death in
1961. He continued to compose during this time, completing Irkanda IV (1961) for solo
violin, strings, and percussion, a composition that was dedicated to the memory of his
father.
In 1962, Sculthorpe befriended the Australian artist Russell Drysdale (1912 –
1981) and saw many similarities between Drysdale’s paintings and his own
compositional themes. The two artists met soon after both artists experienced profound
loss: Sculthorpe had lost his father and Drysdale had lost his son, and an immediate
affinity was created between them.
6
Sculthorpe was not only attracted to Drysdale’s love
of the Australian landscape, but he was also influenced and inspired by his approach to
his art. In an ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) interview in 1997, Sculthorpe
described his friendship with ‘Tass’:
Tass was a role model…I admired his approach to craft, the way he used layers of
paint to come up with the right colour and texture. I also admired the way he
worked and reworked his material. In later years, he was often accused of painting
the same picture over and over again. But his answer was that he was no different
to a Renaissance artist, striving again and again to paint the perfect Madonna-and-
Child. Since then, I’ve never had a problem about the idea of reusing and
reworking my material. Like Tass, I’ve come to look on my whole output as one
slowly emerging work.
7
In 1963, The Composers’ Seminar—a conference of young Australian
composers—was held in Hobart, Tasmania. This event showcased the emerging talent of
6
Graeme Skinner, Peter Sculthorpe: the making of an Australian composer (Sydney: University of New
South Wales Press, 2007), 307.
7
Ibid.
28
many young Australian composers and several of Sculthorpe’s works were premiered at
this conference. The discussion that took place during this conference also highlighted
the growing divide between the direction of younger Australian composers, and those
from previous generations.
8
Following the conference, Sculthorpe was invited to teach at the University of
Sydney and the following year, he received the first Alfred Hill Memorial Award (1965),
which came in the form of a commission by the Music Viva Society.
9
With this award
came a newfound confidence, along with a widening audience. In 1965, Sculthorpe wrote
Sun Music I, which received great acclaim from London music critics and introduced
them to a new sound that was identified as distinctly Australian.
10
Sculthorpe’s increased international exposure led to a publishing contract with
Faber Music Limited, whose only other composer at the time was Benjamin Britten.
During 1966, he held a composer in residence position at Yale University and was a guest
at Yaddo, an artist’s colony in Saratoga Springs. It was here where he composed his first
serious choral work, Sun Music for Voices and Percussion.
11
This work was influenced
by Sculthorpe’s interest in the music of Asia. The compositional style of some Asian
composers, such as Japan’s Toru Takemitsu (1930 – 1996), inspired Sculthorpe to follow
this lead and to investigate using rhythms, melodies, and timbres of the Indigenous
people of Australia in his own music. Some early examples of this can be found in
8
Donald Peart, “The Australian Avant-Garde,” Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association, XCIII
(1966-67), 5-6.
9
Hannan, Peter Sculthorpe: his music and ideas, 18.
10
Ibid.
11
Ibid.
29
Sculthorpe’s opera, Rites of Passage (1972 – 73) where he incorporated texts from
Aboriginal songs. However, it is in his The Song of Tailitnama (1974) for soprano, six
celli, and percussion where we first see both Aboriginal text and melody.
12
After
accepting an Australia Council grant in 1975, Sculthorpe took a break from teaching, and
during this time, he travelled to New Zealand. Here, he found himself captivated by the
Maori culture and became more determined to embrace the Australian landscape and the
Indigenous culture of his own country.
13
Over the next ten years, Sculthorpe incorporated features of the Australian
landscape into much of his music. During this time, although he wrote a few works for
solo voice and his television opera Quiros (1982), he did not compose any music for
choir. However, he did use this time to develop a deeper understanding of Indigenous
Australians, and the connection between Aborigines and the land. When he composed the
orchestral work, Earth Cry (1986), he wrote down his thoughts about the Australian
landscape saying,
When I have returned from abroad in recent years, this country has seemed to me
to be one of the last places on earth where one could honestly write quick and
joyous music. It soon became clear that it would be dishonest of me to write
music that is altogether quick and joyous. The lack of a common cause and the
self-interest of many have drained us of much of our energy. A bogus national
identity and its commercialization have obscured the true breadth of our culture.
Most of the jubilation I have come to feel awaits us in the future. Perhaps we now
need to attune ourselves to this continent, to listen to the cry of the earth, as the
Aborigines have done for many thousands of years.
14
12
Hannan, Peter Sculthorpe: his music and ideas, 23.
13
Ibid.
14
Faber Music, “Earth Cry,” Faber Music, accessed March 11, 2015,
http://www.fabermusic.com/repertoire/earth-cry-928.
30
Sculthorpe’s next major choral work was Child of Australia (1987), for speaker,
soprano solo, SATB chorus, and orchestra. It was performed on Australia Day, January
26 in 1988, Australia’s bicentennial year. The words were by Thomas Kenneally (b.
1935), an Australian author best known for writing Schindler’s Ark.
Over the following sixteen years, Sculthorpe continued to write orchestral and
instrumental music based on both the Australian landscape and indigenous music.
Kakadu (1988) for orchestra, includes melodies based on the contours and rhythms of
Aboriginal chant,
15
while capturing the essence of the Kakadu National Park in northern
Australia, which stretches from the coast to the mountains.
Following Child of Australia, Sculthorpe did not compose any choral music until
2003, when he set an Aboriginal text and melody in Lullaby for unaccompanied mixed
chorus. The melody, as seen in Example 3.1, was collected by Dr. H.C. Lethbridge in the
Maranoa district of Queensland in the 1930s.
16
Sculthorpe had previously set this melody
in 1996 in a composition written for the Brodsky Quartet and Anne Sofie von Otter
(b.1955), however, this new arrangement for choir included new material. The work is a
lullaby for children victimized by war. Sculthorpe explained it this way:
It opens with several statements of the indigenous melody, the words lovingly
entreating children to embrace sleep, as night falls. This is followed by a short
central section that questions the need for war, its text taken from another song in
the Lethbridge collection. The melody then returns, leading to a quiet coda,
suggesting the calmness of sleep and, for many children, the beauteousness of
paradise.
17
15
Deborah Hayes, Peter Sculthorpe: a bio-bibliography (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1993), 79.
16
Peter Sculthorpe, Lullaby (London: Faber Music, 2011).
17
Ibid.
31
Example 3.1. Peter Sculthorpe, Lullaby, indigenous melody used as theme.
Source: Peter Sculthorpe, Lullaby (London: Faber Music, 2011).
Sculthorpe once again uses the Aboriginal text and melody from Lullaby in his
Requiem of 2004, one of his final choral works. It was commissioned by the Adelaide
Symphony Orchestra and was first performed on March 3, 2004 by the Adelaide
Chamber Singers, the Adelaide Voices and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra with
William Barton (b. 1981) on didjeridu. The work is divided into two sections, the first
section being made up of the “Introit,” “Kyrie,” “Gradual,” and “Sequence,” while the
second section includes the “Canticle,” “Sanctus,” “Angus Dei,” and “Communion.” The
fifth movement, the “Canticle,” was written first and is the movement that is based on the
Aboriginal melody from Lullaby (see Example 3.2). It was composed at the time fighting
broke out in Iraq and Sculthorpe wrote it thinking of the children killed by war, and
mothers singing lullabies to their children, sending them to eternal rest. The melody
reappears at the beginning of the Communion and the majority of the work has some
basis in this melody.
18
18
Peter Sculthorpe, Programme note from Requiem (London: Faber Music, 2004).
32
Example 3.2. Peter Sculthorpe, Requiem, Indigenous melody found in fifth movement.
Source: Peter Sculthorpe, Requiem (London: Faber Music, 2004).
The “Canticle” uses the original Aboriginal text, however the other movements all
use the traditional Latin text of the Plainsong Mass of the Dead. Like many other
compositions during Sculthorpe’s later life, this work uses the didjeridu. He chose this
instrument because he wanted to incorporate an Australian sound, one that reflected both
the landscape and the indigenous spirit. The didjeridu is used in every movement except
for the “Introit” and “Agnus Dei.” Sculthorpe also added drumming patterns and the
33
sonorities of celli and double bass throughout the work to further enhance the aesthetic of
the Australian landscape. The didjeridu player is required to improvise; however, Italian
dynamic terms are used to indicate the desired emotional content of each improvisation.
In softer passages, the didjeridu player should remain on the drone, while at other times,
harmonics, cries of animals, bird calls and other sounds of nature should be incorporated.
There are also sections where it is indicated that the didjeridu should be accompanied by
the continuous striking of the instrument with a clap stick.
19
The didjeridu part was written for William Barton, a prominent Aboriginal
musician. He began playing the instrument at a young age in Mount Isa, in far North
Western Queensland and has worked closely with Australian composers, developing a
place for this instrument within the Australian classical music genre.
20
Andrew Ford
wrote about the collaboration between Sculthorpe and William Barton saying:
The extraordinary thing about the collaboration between Sculthorpe and William
Barton was not just that the latter seemed instinctively to know what was
needed…but also that these works accepted his contribution so readily. It never
sounded tacked on; on the contrary, those pedal points accommodated Barton
almost as though the works had, hitherto, been incomplete and were only now
properly finished. These new versions cemented the music’s reputation as the
sound of the land and Sculthorpe’s as out national composer.
21
Sculthorpe’s last major choral work was Song of the Yarra (2008) for soprano
solo, violin obligato, SATB chorus, and chamber ensemble. This work makes reference
to a political debate that took place in Australia over a long period of time. It has three
19
Peter Sculthorpe, Requiem (London: Faber Music, 2004).
20
William Barton, “About,” accessed February 13, 2015, http://www.williambarton.com.au.
21
Andrew Ford, “Peter Sculthorpe: a composer in Australia,” Resonate Magazine (August 2014), accessed
January 20, 2015, http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/article/peter-sculthorpe-a-composer-in-
australia.
34
parts: “Morning Star,” “Healing Waters,” and “Rainbow’s End.” It follows the timeline
from “night to the arrival of the morning star, and from dawn to the fullness of the sun
and day itself.”
22
This is an analogy for the plight and suffering of the Indigenous people
in white Australia and the joy shared by many Australians, when Prime Minister Kevin
Rudd, in February 2008, apologized on behalf of the Federal Government to the
Aboriginal people for the wrongdoings of the past.
23
Sculthorpe’s wish was to set text that came from the Indigenous tribes that were
from around the Yarra River but found that much of their language had been lost over
time. He therefore wrote the text himself but did so in a repetitive, chant-like style, much
like that of Aboriginal poetry. Bird-calls are depicted by the violinist and Sculthorpe uses
percussion to emulate the sounds of Indigenous music. To this he added cello and double
bass in a manner similar to what is found in his Requiem to further enhance the sound of
the Australian landscape.
24
Of the more than 400 works that Peter Sculthorpe composed during his long and
illustrious career, less than four percent of them were written for choir. However, his
influence on Australian composition cannot be overstated. Australian composers who
came after him were influenced by his output and in particular his connection to the
Australian landscape and the music of the indigenous Aborigines. On the occasion of his
eightieth birthday in 2009, the Australian Music Centre published an article that included
22
Australian Music Centre, “Song of the Yarra,” accessed February 13, 2015,
http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au.
23
Apology to Australia’s Indigenous peoples, “Australian Government,” accessed July 14, 2015,
http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/our-country/our-people/apology-to-australias-indigenous-
peoples.
24
Australian Music Centre, “Song of the Yarra,” accessed August 28, 2015.
35
statements from many of Australia’s leading contemporary composers. They all spoke of
Sculthorpe’s friendly nature and support of emerging composers. Anne Boyd, who had
known Sculthorpe since they met in the Music Library at the University of Sydney in
1963, summed up his contribution to the future of Australian music this way:
Peter taught us the importance of connecting music to place—as Australians this
meant connection to our own country—not conceived as upside-down Europe on
the wrong side of the world but the Australia conveyed in the outback landscapes
of Russell Drysdale, Sid Nolan’s ‘Eliza Fraser’ paintings (the inspiration for
Peter’s Mangrove), the novels of Patrick White and the poetry of Judith Wright.
25
After Sculthorpe’s death in 2014, Andrew Ford added:
In the end, if people believe that Sculthorpe’s music symbolizes Australia, then it
does: there can be no greater achievement for any artist than to produce a body of
work that people feel it be their own. But whether or not his work reflects our
landscape, it was undeniably a shaping force of our musical landscape. When
Sculthorpe came along, Australian music changed; now that he’s gone, it will
change again. For the time being, though, there’s just that hole, that chasm.
Fortunately, we have his music to help fill it.
26
25
Australian Music Centre, “Something about Peter,” Resonate Magazine (April 2009), accessed February
3, 2015, http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/article/something-about-peter.
26
Ford, “Peter Sculthorpe: a composer in Australia,”, accessed February 3, 2015.
36
Chapter 4
The Choral Music of Ross Edwards
Ross Edwards was born in Sydney in 1943. His parents’ expectation was that
Edwards would enter into a more stable profession and were “horrified” when Edwards
informed them of his wish to enter a career in composition.
1
His aunt played the piano
and introduced the young Edwards to the piano music of Fryderyk Chopin (1810 – 1849)
and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827).
2
He began piano lessons at the age of four and
very quickly started to reproduce melodies at the piano that he had heard, and to make up
music of his own. At the age of thirteen, he attended a concert where he heard a
performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no. 5, opus. 73. This concert had a profound
impact on Edwards and after this point; he knew that his future career could only be in
music. At this time, music was not offered as part of the New South Wales school
curriculum and at the age of fifteen, Edwards convinced his parents to let him attend the
New South Wales Conservatorium where he took classes in rudimentary theory.
3
In 1962, Edwards attended Sydney University where he came into contact with
the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Anton Webern (1883 – 1945). He was highly
interested in this music and wrote an early piano sonata and chamber symphony. He also
met Henk Badings (1907 – 1987), the composer-in-residence at Elder Conservatorium,
who encouraged the young composer and introduced him to Stockhausen’s Song of the
1
Ross Edwards, interview, November 25, 2015.
2
Macmillan, Australia’s Contemporary Composers, 88.
3
Ross Edwards, interview, November 25, 2015.
37
Children (1955 - 56), exposing him to electronic music for the first time.
4
It was also
during his time at Sydney University that he met and became friends with fellow student,
Anne Boyd (b. 1946) who shared his passion for composition.
5
At the end of 1963, Edwards left the university because composition lessons were
not offered and he thought that his future as a composer would be better served by
gaining experience working amongst professional musicians and composers.
6
He began
working at the ABC where he worked in the mailroom and delivered messages. He felt at
the time that his best option for the future was to leave Australia and travel to Europe.
However, he received encouragement from composers Peter Maxwell Davies (b. 1934)
and Richard Meale (1932 – 2009), whom he studied with for three months in 1965.
Additionally, Peter Sculthorpe persuaded him to stay in Australia, return to university,
graduate, and apply for scholarships to study internationally.
7
In 1965, Edwards began making transparencies of the music of Peter Sculthorpe
and Richard Meale. Working closely with these composers gave Edwards valuable
practical experience and Sculthorpe encouraged Edwards to continue composing.
8
He
composed his second wind quintet in 1965, which was performed in October of that year
at an International Society for Contemporary Music (I.S.C.M.) concert in Sydney. Three
months later, it was chosen as one of five works to represent Australia at the International
4
Macmillan, Australia’s Contemporary Composers, 88.
5
Ross Edwards, interview, November 25, 2015.
6
Ibid.
7
Matthew Hindson, “Advice to Young and Emerging Composers,” Resonate Magazine (March 2009),
accessed February 9, 2015, http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/article/advice-to-young-and-
emerging-composers.
8
Ross Edwards, interview, November 25, 2015.
38
Jury of the I.S.C.M. for possible inclusion in the program for the Stockholm Festival in
September of 1966.
9
Maxwell Davies was a guest lecturer at Adelaide University in 1966 and invited
Edwards to return to formal studies as his student. Maxwell Davies was a demanding
teacher and taught Edwards the importance of analysis and provided him with a strong
compositional grounding. Edwards graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1968
with first class honors. In 1969, Edwards commenced a Master of Music degree and
studied with Richard Meale, who had recently joined the department. At the end of that
year, Edwards traveled to England to continue studies with Maxwell Davies. He
completed his studies externally while in London, and was awarded his masters degree
from Adelaide University in 1971.
10
While in London, Edwards wrote Monos II (1970), for piano at the invitation of
Australian pianist Roger Woodward (b. 1942). He later extended this work into Choros
(1972), for piano and orchestra, which was also premiered by Woodward.
11
Edwards and
Woodward were friends and although he would have written the works regardless,
Woodward helped persuade Edwards to take on these projects by holding his head under
the water of the Danube River until he agreed.
12
In 1972, Edwards moved to York after receiving a Commonwealth Fellowship
through the Commonwealth Assistance to Australian Composers. Here he was reunited
with Australian composer friends Boyd, Alison Bauld (b. 1944), and Martin Wesley-
9
Macmillan, Australia’s Contemporary Composers, 89.
10
Ross Edwards, interview, November 25, 2015.
11
Macmillan, Australia’s Contemporary Composers, 90.
12
Ross Edwards, interview, November 25, 2015.
39
Smith (b. 1945), who were studying at York University.
13
Later that year, Edwards
moved back to Australia due to the failing health of his mother, and in 1973 began
teaching at the University of Sydney.
14
In 1976, Edwards took a teaching position at the Sydney Conservatorium of
Music. During this time, Edwards became disillusioned, for while he found himself
teaching about Western European music, within his own compositions he was searching
for a new, authentically Australian aesthetic. He began to listen to nature more closely,
using the sounds of the Australian bush, including those of birds, insects, and frogs, to
form pitch combinations that formed a basis for his compositions. He wrote The Tower of
Remoteness for clarinet and piano in 1978 and considers this work to be his first
composition that displays a new, original voice.
15
In 1977 Edwards and his young wife Helen moved to the Central Coast of New
South Wales, settling into the small coastal village of Pearl Beach. Edwards continued to
teach at the Sydney Conservatorium until June 1980, but his time in Pearl Beach (1977 –
1984) allowed him to explore his interest in the sounds of the Australian bush. He
described his time there as follows:
The summer days were swathed in the drones of cicadas with their mysteriously
abrupt starts and stops and, at evening, the insects would start up. I was entranced
by the insect chorus because it seemed to be on the verge of conveying some
profound message which was ultimately elusive. All the temporal relationships in
my music—the relative lengths of phrases and sections—are influenced by these
ancient voices, whose near-symmetries and inconsistently varied repetitions often
13
Shearer, Emerging Voices in Australian Choral Music, 86.
14
Ross Edwards, interview, November 25, 2015.
15
Philip Cooney, “Ross Edwards: I still wake up excited about the score I’m working on,” Resonate
Magazine (December 2013), accessed February 10, 2015,
http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/article/ross-edwards-i-still-wake-up-excited-about-the-score-i-m-
working-on.
40
seem close to our inherited musical syntax. I don’t doubt that, over the millennia,
such voices have generated much of the world’s music and it’s not hard to detect
their presence in various surviving folk and religious traditions.
16
Following Edwards’ move and subsequent connection to the sounds of nature, his
compositional output fell into two categories: his sacred compositions, and his Maninya
17
style. His sacred compositions were slow, meditative, and ritualistic, while his Maninya
style was lively, rhythmic, and chant-like.
18
Edwards completely rejected all European
music while in Pearl Beach and in addition to his interest in the sounds of the Australian
bush, Edwards also began investigating the music of Indonesia and Japan.
19
Like Peter Sculthorpe, Edwards is predominantly a composer of instrumental
works. His choral works, however, epitomize his love of nature and his ties to the
Australian landscape. Commissioned by Nicholas Routley, for the Sydney Chamber
Choir, Flower Songs (1986-87) was written for sixteen voices and two percussionists.
20
The text is made up of the Latin and ancient Greek scientific names for wild flowers
found in central eastern Australia, and were chosen based on their sound value. Other
Australian composers who have set text in a similar way include Anne Boyd and Percy
Grainger. The work is in two movements and each movement is synonymous with
Edwards’ Maninya style using diatonic harmony and rhythmic dynamism.
21
16
Ross Edwards, White Ghost Dancing (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 1999).
17
Maninya is a term Edwards uses to describe a series of works that have a chant-like quality and that are
influenced by his sub-conscious absorption of a variety of non-western music and the sounds of the natural
environment.
18
Ross Edwards, interview, November 25, 2015.
19
Ibid.
20
Ross Edwards, “Choral Music,” accessed February 14, 2015, http://www.rossedwards.com.
21
Australian Music Centre, “Program note: Flower Songs Ross Edwards,” accessed February 14, 2015,
http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au).
41
The first movement is vigorous and highly rhythmic. The text, sung by the choir,
along with the percussion parts, are made up of short, repetitive rhythmic motifs with an
underlying drone throughout (see Example 4.1). The drone is supplied by the organ and
the score indicates that it should be “loud enough for the singers to tune to, but not so
loud as to blur their articulation.”
22
The movement is written in mixolydian mode
throughout but Edwards does not compose with a key structure in mind. The tonality
evolves as the work progresses, with the energy that is derived from the rhythm and text
paramount.
23
22
Ross Edwards, Flower songs, (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 1987).
23
Ross Edwards, interview, November 25, 2015.
42
Example 4.1. Ross Edwards, Flower Songs, opening of first movement.
Source: Ross Edwards, Flower songs, (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 1987).
43
Both movements use the names of seven different Australian wild flowers –
‘boronia, baeckea, virigata, elaeocarpus reticulatur, alphitonia, excels,’ and ‘pratia’ that
are matched with six different sets of thematic material. The first movement also includes
aboriginal sticks (also known as clap sticks) invoking the sounds of Indigenous Australia;
however, Edwards moves away from the rhythmic stability found in most Aboriginal
music through the use of mixed meter. The second movement uses vibraphone
throughout, and although it also consists of short, repetitive motifs, it is dream-like and
reflective in nature (see Example 4.2).
Example 4.2. Ross Edwards, Flower Songs, opening of second movement.
44
Example 4.2. Ross Edwards, Flower Songs, opening of second movement, continued.
Edwards first came into contact with the music of Indigenous Australia when as
an undergraduate student he met Catherine Ellis (1935 – 1996) who was working as a
research fellow for the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies at the Elder
Conservatorium, University of Adelaide. Ellis worked closely with Indigenous
communities in South Australia and participated in the cultural activities of the
Indigenous women of this area. It is very rare for a European to be included in the rituals
due to the highly secretive nature of the Aboriginal customs. Ellis and her family spent
time within these communities and then returned to Adelaide and shared their
experiences with the students. Ellis also invited several senior elders to work as lecturers
within the university, allowing them to share with the students their culture and
traditions.
24
24
Ross Edwards, interview, November 25, 2015.
45
In 1999, Edwards wrote Dawn Mantras (also known as “Breath of the Spirit”) for
a dawn performance on the sails of the Sydney Opera House, which brought in the first
day of the new millennium. The performance was broadcast across the world to an
audience estimated in the billions.
25
It was written for shakuhachi (a Japanese flute),
tenor saxophone, two percussionists (playing six crotales
26
and two Burmese gongs),
child soprano soloist, children’s choir, men’s choir, and didjeridu. The instrumentation
and voicing reflect Australia’s relationship with her Asian neighbors and the diversity
and youthfulness of modern Australia.
Dawn Mantras defines Edwards’ sacred style with its ever-present drone and
dream-like characteristics. The tonality is modal, based on the C drone in the didjeridu.
The drone gives the illusion of the insect sounds that Edwards is so fond of, while also
giving the listener a sense of the sacred nature of the Australian landscape with its vast,
monotonous, emptiness. The use of the didjeridu also acknowledges the original owners
and inhabitants of Australia and symbolizes the need for reconciliation between white
and Indigenous Australia. The basic scale found within this work is pentatonic (C-E-F-G-
B flat), although using a major third rather than the more favored minor third. The major
third used in the scale gives the work a major sonority, capturing the essence of the bright
Australian sun. The text used in the opening section of the work includes the Latin
“aurora,” meaning dawn, and the Aboriginal words dhilbi-dhilbi, which also mean dawn
in the Bundjalung language found in northeast New South Wales (see Example 4.3).
25
Boyd, The Soundscapes of Australia, 13.
26
Crotales are small, antique cymbals. Modern crotales are arranged chromatically and have a range up to
two octaves.
46
Example 4.3. Ross Edwards, Dawn Mantras, opening measures.
Source: Ross Edwards, Dawn Mantras, (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 1992)
Copyright © Ross Edwards, 2011
Shakuhachi
Alto Saxophone
Didgeridoo
Child Soloist
Children's Choir
Tenor
MEN'S
CHOIR
Bass
Percussion I
Percussion II
Percussion Entry Wind Entry A B
dihl
pp
bi, - dihl bi, - dihl bi, au-
au
pp
ro - ra, - au ro - ra, - au ro - ra, - au ro - ra, -
pp
pp
pp
pp
q = 50*
Ross Edwards
Dawn Mantras
*Woodwind not synchronized
with choir except at point of
entry
ad lib.
10"
q = 50
3 crotales
(sounding 8va)
q = 63
q = 58
3 crotales
(sounding 8va)
Burmese gong
Burmese gong
47
The children’s voices add both Japanese and Indonesian text meaning dawn,
peace, whole, and healing. Add to this the child soprano intoning the words of the Latin
Pentecostal chant, “Sancti Spiritus adsit nobis gratia” (May the grace of the holy spirit be
with us), and the work has an overall feeling of hope through the coming together of
many cultures (see Example 4.4). Edwards describes the combination of texts from
different languages and instrumentation from a variety of cultures as a “blessing on the
diverse people of the south.”
27
Example 4.4. Ross Edwards, Dawn Mantras, m. 80.
Peter Read, an Australia historian best known for his research on Aboriginal
Australia, described the first time he heard this work on a long flight across Australia
from Melbourne to Perth:
27
Ross Edwards, interview, November 25, 2015.
Didg.
Child Soloist
Children's Choir
Men's Choir
Perc. I
Perc. II
80
Sanc ti - Spi ri - tus, - ad sit - no bis - gra ti - a. - ad sit - no bis, -
Hei wa, - pen yem - buh - an, - pen yem - buh an, - su buh, - Hei wa, - pen yem - buh - an, - Hei wa, - pen yem -
Shak.
Alto Sax.
Didg.
Child Soloist
Children's Choir
Men's Choir
Perc. I
Perc. II
Wind Re-Entry F 88
no bis - gra ti - a. -
buh an, - Hei wa, - pen yem - buh - an, - pen yem - buh - an, - su buh, - u tuh. -
( niente )
6
48
I wake to find the in-flight film nothing but explosions and car chases. Turning to
see if the ‘concert hall’ channel is worth listening to, I am enraptured by the
sustained boom of the didgeridoo forming a slow drone bass, a long insistent
phrase built on a deep rhythm. It’s a bit like the beginning of the Ring Cycle,
where the basses are the deep currents of the Rhine from which the Rhine
maidens emerge; but this rhythm is different, it is more secure, it is of our own
continent. It neither swells nor falls. Surely this bass has been there from the
beginning. Enter the tenor instruments, cor anglais, and—what’s that plaintive
mid-register? The Japanese bamboo flute, the shakuhachi…The instruments catch
and repeat the phrase, they intertwine, frolic solemnly, touch and interdrift like
clouds, float apart on the landscape, sustained by the didgeridoo ground bass, at
once geographical and musical, not quite meditating, nor ritual dancing, not
laughing, not mourning, like movement of airs, or themes, or histories, or spirit
forces. Enter the human, first the collective voice, the choir; now the individual,
the child soprano, leaps and soars. This is no longer music, it is spiritual
Australia.
28
Symphony No. 4 (Star Chant), for mixed chorus and orchestra, was commissioned
for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra through a partnership between Symphony
Australia and the Adelaide Festival. The premiere was on March 8, 2002 and was
conducted by Richard Mills (b. 1944). Edwards dedicated this work to his wife, Helen.
He describes this work in terms of the meaning of stars for different people and in
different cultures. For example, William Blake (1757 – 1827) saw the stars as cold and
logically Satanic. In contrast, to the Aborigines, the stars are meaningful and kindly.
29
Whatever significance the stars have to a given culture, the magnificence of the night sky
littered with stars, away from the city lights, cannot be understated. Perhaps, in the
presence of this grandeur, reconciliation and equality between our cultures and nations
can be possible.
30
28
Peter Read, Haunted Earth (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2003), 226.
29
Ross Edwards, “Symphony No.4 ‘Star Chant’ (2001),” accessed February 14, 2015,
http://www.rossedwards.com.
30
Ross Edwards, interview, November 25, 2015.
49
Edwards was inspired to write this work when he travelled to outback Queensland
and New South Wales and spent a night sleeping outside, under the stars in the Simpson
Desert with a group of scientists, mostly astronomers. The text of this work was written
by Fred Watson (b. 1944), who paid tribute to Indigenous Australians by incorporating
both the western names of stars as well as the names given by the Aborigines in their
Dreamtime stories. Edwards had first imagined this work as a calm, profound meditation
but the text led him to write some of the most dramatic music of his career, as the journey
took him across the galaxy. When reaching the Southern Cross, one of Australia’s best-
loved icons, Edwards aimed to use this constellation as a symbol of “creative and
harmonious coexistence between the culturally diverse people of the south.”
31
He does
this by interweaving joyous melodies over an energetic underlying rhythm in the lower
strings and piano as seen in Example 4.5. The work ends with a depiction of a faint star,
unnoticed by the Aborigines,
32
that represents the apex of the entire sky. It is unmoving,
and this final star brings the work to a quiet, solemn closure.
31
Edwards, “Symphony No.4 ‘Star Chant’ (2001),” accessed February 14, 2015,
32
Ibid.
50
Example 4.5. Ross Edwards, Symphony No. 4 Star Chant, Southern Cross section (Crux).
Source: Ross Edwards, Symphony No. 4 Star Chant, (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 2001).
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51
Mountain Chant: Three Sacred Choruses (2002-2003) was jointly commissioned
by Cantillation and the Melbourne Chorale and was dedicated to Fred Watson, whose
poem was used for the text of the second movement, and who had written the text for
Star Chant. The inspiration for the three-movement work comes from the Warrumbungle
Mountains in north-eastern New South Wales where Watson administers the
Warrumbungle Observatory, Australia’s premier optical astronomical research facility.
33
Watson’s text utilizes European and Celtic imagery associated with the mountains as well
as the Indigenous names of the Dreaming sites. The second movement is highly rhythmic
with constantly changing meter and asymmetrical accentuations. The movement begins
with the bass singers only, adding the tenor above at measure 17. Edwards then layers the
upper voices, increasing the density, as well as the rhythmic complexity. The music
becomes more homophonic as it moves through the movement, with the lower voices
singing the same rhythms and the upper voices singing the same rhythms, but as a kind of
duet, full of rhythmic vitality and propelled by the constantly changing meter (see
Example 4.6). Edwards is highly influenced by the connection that Aboriginal people
have to the earth. He likens this to his time connecting with nature in Pearl Beach and
used this inspiration when writing the second movement of Mountain Chant.
34
33
Ross Edwards, interview, November 25, 2015.
34
Ibid.
52
Example 4.6. Ross Edwards, Mountain Chant, Second Movement
Source: Ross Edwards, Mountain Chant, (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 2003).
°
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53
The first and third movements contrast sharply with the second movement. The
first movement uses the Latin text of O quam preciosa by Hildegard von Bingen (1098 –
1179), which refers to spiritual regeneration, and the final movement sets The Lord’s
Prayer, also in Latin, to music—a text that Edwards described as “a profound
documentation of the universal path to self-transformation and enlightenment (see Table
1).”
35
Both movements are slow and solemn and are to be performed at the same tempo.
The first movement begins with a drone on a B in both the bass and tenor voices, which
continues throughout the first ten measures before moving into a rich harmonic structure
that is predominately homophonic, based in C major, and embellished with some modal
tendencies. It ends with a similar drone, but this time on a G and a C, incorporating the
commonly found interval of a fifth. The third movement begins in G sharp minor and
uses a similar drone theme, but this time it moves through a variety of tonalities. The
middle section of this movement takes on a similar style to the duet between upper and
lower voices found in the second movement, but this time at a slower tempo. This
continues until the very end, when the voices unite on a C major chord. Although
Edwards generally does not consciously use harmony to reflect deeper meaning in his
music, this coming together of voices on a major chord could be seen to again be
reinforcing the concept of reconciliation, harmony, and peace.
36
The work may be
performed in its entirety or each of the three movements may be performed as an
individual composition.
35
Ross Edwards, Mountain Chant (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 2004).
36
Ross Edwards, interview, November 25, 2015.
54
Table 1. Text from first movement of Mountain Chant
Southern Cross Chants (2004) continues the astronomical exploration that started
with Edwards’ Symphony No. 4 (2001). It is scored for six solo voices and percussion,
however it may be performed by larger groups. It is in five sections or modules (‘Hydra-
Sirius-Formalhaut, Antaares, Scorpius, Proxima Centauri’ and ‘Crux Australis’). The
work can be performed as a whole, or single modules can be performed alone. The
percussion includes: handclaps and foot stamps, eight crotali, Australian Aboriginal
clapping sticks, drum (e.g. African drum, Conga, Darbukka), and a small selection of
scraped gourds (guiros, S.E. Asian frogs, etc.) Although there is no didjeridu part written,
Edwards states in his performance notes that “occasional drones can be added by an
O Quam Preciosa—Hildgard von Bingen
Latin Text English Translation
O Quam preciosa est virginitas O how precious is the virginity
virginis huius of this virgin
que clausam portam habet, whose gate is closed,
et cuius viscera and whose womb
sancta divinitas calore suo holy divinity with his warmth
infudit, infused,
ita quod flos in ea crevit. So that a flower grew in her.
Et filius Dei And the Son of God
per secreta ipsius through her secret passage
quasi aurora exivit came forth like the dawn.
Unde dulce germen, Thus the tender shoot
quod Filius ipsius est, which is her Son.
Per clausuram ventris eius through her womb’s enclosure
Paradisum aperuit. Opened paradise.
Et filius Dei And the Son of God
per secreta ipsius through her secret passage
quasi aurora exivit. Came forth like the dawn.
55
instrument such as the didgeridoo.”
37
The recording produced by The Song Company in
2009 features William Barton on didjeridu and the added drone from the instrument
compliments the drone-like features in the vocal score very effectively. As in his earlier
symphony, Edwards uses text by Fred Watson that combines the classical, scientific, and
Aboriginal names of stars and constellations.
The first section uses the words Hydra and Unwala; Hydra is “the water-snake of
the ancient Greek legend, whose head is Unwala the Crab to the people of Groote Eylandt
in the Gulf of Carpentaria.”
38
As is found in much of Edwards’ music, this movement is
made up of small rhythmic motifs scattered around a drone-like pitch, in this case, a G.
The opening, particularly when performed with didjeridu, resembles the sounds of
Aboriginal chants and tribal dances, while the interwoven short melodies are reminiscent
of Aboriginal melodies with their pentatonic tendencies (see Example 4.7).
37
Ross Edwards, Southern Cross Chants (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 2004).
38
Ibid.
56
Example 4.7. Ross Edwards, Southern Cross Chants, opening measures.
Source: Ross Edwards, Southern Cross Chants, (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 2004).
°
¢
°
¢
ROSS EDWARDS
© Copyright 2011 by Ross Edwards
SOUTHERN CROSS CHANTS
To Roland Peelman
Allegro, q = 138
1
Soprano 1
Soprano 2
Alto
Tenor
Baritone
Bass
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57
The second section begins with a solo soprano line that merges into a soprano
duet. This opening is mysterious in nature and reminiscent of an Aboriginal mourning
melody (see Example 4.8). The lower voices enter with a rhythmic accompaniment
featuring repetitive motifs. The soprano duet continues to float above this until it remains
alone in the ending, as it began.
Example 4.8. Ross Edwards, Southern Cross Chants, opening measures of second
section.
°
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25 Quasi lontano e misterioso, q = c.60
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27
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during which the rhythmic chant completes its cycle.
continua sim.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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,
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=
=
=
=
19
58
The third module begins in a declamatory style (see Example 4.9), while the
middle section of this module features improvised insect sounds produced by gourds and
whispers, and a tribal-sounding rhythmic section.
Example 4.9. Ross Edwards, Southern Cross Chants, opening measures of third module.
°
¢
°
¢
°
¢
29 Quasi declamato, q = c.132
S. 1
S. 2
A.
T.
Bar.
B.
30
S. 1
S. 2
A.
T.
Bar.
B.
S. 1
S. 2
A.
T.
#
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!
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4
$
4
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4
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4
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&
' ' ' ' '
&
' ' ' ' '
&
Scor
f
pi - us, -
mp
Scor pi - us,
4:3
- In
f
gal - pir, - Scor
(f)
pi - us, -
mp
Scor pi - us,
4:3
-
3
&
‹
' '
In gal - pir,
mp
-
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)
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)
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&
An
f
ta - res. -
'
An
(f)
ta - res, -
&
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f
ta - res. -
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An
(f)
ta - res, -
&
'
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f
pi - us. -
mp
Scor pi - us,
4:3
-
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&
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f
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-
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&
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p
ta - res, - ta
f
res -
&
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mf
ta
f
- res, -
&
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An ta - res, - Al
f
ka - rin - ja, -
'
p
An -
&
‹
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f
gal - pir, - An
<
p
ta - res, - ta res, - Al
f
ka - rin - ja, -
'
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ta - res, -
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21
59
The fourth module is a lullaby based on the text, “Proxima Centauri,” the closest
star to earth (see Example 4.10), and the final module finishes the work with a highly
rhythmic finale featuring cross rhythms, percussion, and Edwards’ signature repetitive
short motifs (see Example 4.11).
Example 4.10. Ross Edwards, Southern Cross Chants, fourth module lullaby.
°
¢
°
¢
38
Like a lullaby q = 40
Lontano e sereno
S. 1
S. 2
A.
T.
Bar.
B.
S. 1
S. 2
A.
T.
Bar.
B.
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
&
'
Pro
pp dolciss.
xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, - Cen tau - ri, - Pro xi - ma, -
&
'
Pro
pp dolciss.
xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, -
&
'
Pro
pp dolciss.
xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, -
&
‹
'
Pro
pp dolciss.
xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, -
)
'
Pro
pp dolciss.
xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, -
)
Pro
pp dolciss.
xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, -
&
Pro xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, - Cen tau - -
&
Pro xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, -
&
Pro xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, -
&
‹
Pro xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, -
)
Pro xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, - Pro xi - ma, -
)
Cen tau - ri, - Pro xi - ma, - Cen tau - ri, - Pro xi - ma, - Cen tau - ri, - Pro xi - ma, -
,™ ,
.
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/ , 0
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=
26
60
Example 4.11. Ross Edwards, Southern Cross Chants, finale.
°
¢
°
¢
AB%
BBBBE5
AB%
BBBBE5
AB%
BBBBE5
AB%
BBBBE5
AB%
BBBBE5
AB%
BBBBE5
AB%
BBBBE5
S. 1
S. 2
A.
T.
Bar.
B.
Perc.
accel.
S. 1
S. 2
A.
T.
Bar.
B.
Perc.
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&
Mir ra, -
'
Mir ra, - Ka boo - ka - a - boo - ka, - Mir ra - boo - ka, -
&
Mir ra, - Ka boo - ka, -
'
Mir ra, - Mir ra - boo - ka, -
&
Mir ra, -
'
Mir ra, - Mir ra - boo - ka, -
&
‹
'
Mir ra - ka - boo - ka - da - ka, - Mir ra - boo - ka, -
)
'
Mir ra, - Mir ra - boo - ka, -
)
' '
Mir ra - boo - ka, -
8
Clapping sticks
&
Mir ra - da - boo - ka, - Ka.
fff
Ka.
&
Mir ra - da - boo - ka, - Ka.
fff
Ka.
&
Mir ra - da - boo - ka, - Ka.
fff
Ka.
&
‹
Mir ra - da - boo - ka, - Ka.
fff
Ka.
)
Mir ra - da - boo - ka, - Ka.
fff
Ka.
)
Mir ra - da - boo - ka, - Ka. Ka.
8
Hand claps
Drum
fff
Drum and foot stamp
,
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3
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/ 1 / 1 / 1 @ 1
;
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2
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.
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=
45
61
Missa Alchera: Mass of the Dreaming (2009) for mixed unaccompanied chorus,
was commissioned by St. John’s Anglican Cathedral and St. Stephen’s Catholic
Cathedral, Brisbane, with assistance from the Australia Council in 2009. When Graeme
Morton, the music director at St. John’s Cathedral, first approached Edwards in regard to
commissioning a Latin mass, he requested that the work contain elements that would
make it distinctively Australian. This was very appealing to Edwards, as it allowed him to
further develop styles that were present in Flower Songs and Mountain Chant. The
Dreaming to Edwards is “…like our Eternity, where time is omnipresent rather than
linear. It is also inextricably associated with the land—the Earth Mother—at the deepest
creative level.” Edwards believes “…that rituals that have been imported from other
places are most likely to retain their potency and relevance when they develop a similar
connection.” He also believes that, “…those rituals capable of suspending our self-
consciousness and promoting awareness of the mystery of the here and now are essential
to the wellbeing of both individuals and society.”
39
Based on these beliefs, Missa Alchera is about contemplation as much as
celebration. It was written during a period of fire and flood in Australia, and the drama
found in both the text and the contrasts between serene peacefulness and eruptions of
musical intensity reflect this uncertain time. Edwards captures the sounds of Australia by
using shapes and patterns that reflect the natural sounds of the environment as well as
chant—both liturgical and Aboriginal. He found the inspiration for one of the chants
when listening to the radio one day. A group of indigenous singers began singing a chant
which Edwards found captivating. He sketched the outline of this chant on the back of an
39
Ross Edwards, Missa Alchera—Mass of the Dreaming (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 2009), 3.
62
envelope, took it home, made it his own, and incorporated it in the “Benedictus”
movement of the mass (see Example 4.12).
40
Example 4.12. Ross Edwards, Missa Alchera – Mass of the Dreaming, aboriginal chant
found in first soprano line.
Source: Ross Edwards, Missa Alchera—Mass of the Dreaming (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 2009).
Graeme Morton conducted the first performance of Missa Alchera on May 31,
2009 at St. John’s Cathedral in Brisbane, Australia. The performance included the
Brisbane Chamber Choir combined with the Schola of the Cathedral of St. Stephen.
40
Ross Edwards, interview, November 25, 2015.
64
S.
A.
T.
B.
O
%%
san
- na,
- O san
- na - in
ex cel
- sis, -
na na - na - na, -
O
%%
san
- na,
- O san
- na - in
ex cel
- sis, -
na na - na - na, -
san
na,
- O san
- na - in
ex cel
%%
cresc.
- sis, -O
san
- na - in
ex cel
- sis, -
na na - na - na, -
san
na,
- O san
- na - in
ex cel
%%
cresc.
- sis, -O
san
- na - in
ex cel
- sis, -
na na - na - na, -
O san
- na - in
ex cel
%%
cresc.
- sis, -O
san
- na -
O san
- na
- na, -
na na - na - na, -
O san
- na - in
ex cel
%%
cresc.
- sis, -O
san
- na -
O san
- na
- na, -
na na - na - na, -
O
%%
san
- na - in
ex cel
- sis, -
O san
- na
- na, -
O
%%
san
- na - in
ex cel
- sis, -
ex cel
- sis, -
69
S.
A.
T.
B.
na
na,
-
na na - na - na, - na
na, -
san na, - O san
- na, -
na
na,
-
na na - na - na, - na
na, -
san na, - O san
- na, -
na
na,
-
na na - na - na, - na
na, -
san na, - O san
- na, - O san
- na, -
na
na,
-
na na - na - na, - na
na, -
san na, - O san
- na, - O san
- na, -
na
na
- na, -
na na - na - na, - na
na, - O san
- na, -
O san
- na, -
na
na
- na, -
na na - na - na, - na
na, - O san
- na, -
O san
- na, -
na
na
- na, -
na na - na - na, - na
na, -
O san
- na, -
na
na, -
na na - na - na, - na
na, -
O san
- na, -
33
63
Immediately after completing Missa Alchera, Edwards began his choral work Sacred
Kingfisher Psalms (2009), also for a cappella mixed choir. The text is a combination of
excerpts from Psalms 1 and 130 from the Latin Vulgate and the Aboriginal names of
birds in the language of the Aboriginal people who inhabited what is now Sydney. The
text from these ancient psalms both have “a strong sense of the spirit and significance of
place and an awareness and acceptance of implicit natural laws recognized throughout the
ages as being essential for balance and harmony, renewal – and, ultimately, survival”
41
(see Table 2).
41
Ross Edwards, Sacred Kingfisher Psalms (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 2009).
64
Table 2. Text and Translations for Psalm 1 and Psalm 130.
Source: Ross Edwards, Sacred Kingfisher Psalms (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 2009).
Edwards begins the Sacred Kingfisher Psalms with the Latin text, once again
using short rhythmic motifs that interweave between voice parts (see Example 4.13).
Latin Text English Translation
Psalm 1
beatus vir qui non abiit in consilio impriorum Blessed is the man that hath not walked in the
et in via peccatorum non stetit counsel of the ungodly
et in cathedra pestilentiae non sedit nor stood in the way of sinners:
nor stood in the way of sinners:
sed in lege Domini voluntas eius But his delight is in the law of the Lord:
et in lege eius meditabitur die ac nocte and in his law will he exercise himself day and night.
et erit tamquam lignum transplantatum And he shall be like a tree planted
iuxta rivulos aquarum by the waterside:
quod fructum sum dabit in tempore suo that will bring forth his fruit in due season.
et folium eius non defluet His leaf also shall not wither: and look,
et omne quod fecerit prosperabitur whatsoever he doeth, it shall prosper.
Psalm 130canticum graduum Domine Lord, I am not high-minded:
non est exaltatum cor meum I have no proud looks.
neque elati sunt oculi mei et non ambulavi in magnis I do not exercise myself in great matters:
et in mirabilibus super me which are too high for me.
si non proposui et silere feci But I refrain my soul, and keep it low,
animam meam sicut ablactatus ad matrem like as a child that is weaned from his mother:
suam ita ablactate ad me anima mea yea, my soul is even as a weaned child.
65
Example 4.13. Ross Edwards, Sacred Kingfisher Psalms, opening measures.
Source: Ross Edwards, Sacred Kingfisher Psalms, (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 2009).
Soprano
Soprano
Alto
Tenor
Baritone
Bass
Be
poco f
a - tus - vir
p
be
sim.
a - tus - vir be
sim.
a - tus -
Animato q = 136
Be
poco f
a -
p
be
sim.
a - be
sim.
a -
poco f
a
p
a
sim.
a
sim.
a
poco f
be a - tus - vir be a - tus - vir a be a - tus - vir a be
poco f
a
p
a
sim.
a
sim.
S.
S.
A.
T.
Bar.
B.
vir be
sim.
a - tus - vir qui
poco f
non
7
be
sim.
a - qui
poco f
non
a
sim.
qui
poco f
non
a tus - be a - tus - vir be a - tus - vir a be a - be a - tus - be a - tus - vir be a - tus - non
a
sim.
Sacred Kingfisher Psalms
ROSS EDWARDS
66
Edwards then moves into a serene and slower section, which includes the use of open
fifths (D, A, E). The animation then increases, still utilizing the Latin text before
returning to a slower tempo, (m. 222) with chant-like melodies and a drone in the bass
voice. This leads into a homophonic, more traditional hymn-like moment before he
launches into a vigorous bird chant (see Example 4.14). Here the chanting of bird names
creates the sounds of various Australian native birds including the dyaramak, the sacred
kingfisher, a close relative of the kookaburra.
This work uses both the Phrygian mode, found in both the psalm settings (see
Example 4.13) and the bird chant (see Example 4.14), and its pentatonic derivatives,
found in the psalm settings. Although one can hear a connection between this music and
both Aboriginal music and birdsong, Edwards states, “…the rhythmic patterns and drones
are directly influenced by my subconscious absorption of the sounds of the south-eastern
coastal environment of Australia where I have spent most of my life.”
42
42
Edwards, Sacred Kingfisher Psalms.
67
Example 4.14. Ross Edwards, Sacred Kingfisher Psalms, vigorous bird chant.
S.
S.
A.
T.
Bar.
B.
gu
f
ma - gu ma - ja ra - mak - gu ma - gu ma - ja ra - mak - gu ma -
381
gu
f
ma - gu ma - ja ra - mak - gu ma - gu ma - ja ra - mak - gu ma -
ma ri - gang - gu
f
ma - gu ma - ja ra - mak - gu ma - gu ma - ja ra - mak - gu ma -
ma ri - gang - gu ma - ja ra - mak - gu ma - gu ja ra - mak - gu ma - gu ma -
ma ma
f
ri - ma - ri - gang -
ma ma
f
ri - ma - ri - gang -
S.
S.
A.
T.
Bar.
B.
gu
ff
ma - gu ma - gu ma - gu ma - gu ma -
387
gu
ff
ma - gu ma - gu ma - gu ma - gu ma -
gu
ff
ma - gu ma - ja ra - gu ma - gu ma - gu ma -
gu
ff
ma - gu ma - ja ra - gu ma - gu ma - gu ma - won
pp sub.
ga -
gu
ff
ma - ja ra - gu ma - ja ra - gu ma - ja ra - gu ma - gu ma - gu -
gu
ff
ma - ja ra - mak - ja ra - gu ma - gu ma - ja ra - mak - ja ra - gu ma - ja ra - gu ma -
36
68
Chapter 5
The Choral Music of Stephen Leek
Stephen Leek was born in Sydney in 1959, moved to Brisbane in 1964, and then
to Canberra in 1969 where he remained until 1984. It was during his high school years in
Canberra that he began to be interested in composition, an interest encouraged by his
high school music teacher, Gillian Bonham (b. 1945). He started learning the cello at the
age of fourteen and as a cellist, participated in youth music festivals in Australia as well
as in Europe and Asia. Canberra was a hub of musical activity during Leek’s youth and
he became involved in several arts organizations including the Canberra Youth Orchestra,
the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, the Canberra Repertory Theatre Company, Canberra
Opera, and the Canberra Philharmonic Society.
1
Leek’s first choral experience was during his teenage years singing in the
Canberra Children’s Choir directed by Australian composer and music educator, Judith
Clingan (b. 1945). Here he was exposed to a variety of choral music including both older
and newer works as well as children’s opera, and Australian choral compositions. The
Canberra Children’s Choir was an ensemble where experimentation and improvisation
were encouraged.
2
This influence was reflected in Leek’s future compositions and also
served as a model that he used for future workshops and summer camps. During his final
two years of high school, he attended Phillip College, a newly formed high school where
music and arts were valued and Leek was given the opportunity to perform and interact
1
Annette Stephens, “Education for an Australian Choral Tradition: Evaluating the philosophies of Stephen
Leek” (Master’s thesis, Australian Catholic University, 2004), 35.
2
Stephen Leek, interview, November 25, 2015.
69
with fellow musicians.
3
From 1979 to 1983, he was a student at the Canberra School of
Music where he undertook a double degree in Cello Performance and Composition. He
was chosen to participate in an Australia/New Zealand composer/choreographer
workshop in Melbourne in 1984 where he worked with choreographers Glen Tetley
(1926 – 2007), Chris Jannides (b. 1954), and composer Carl Vine (b. 1954).
4
This
workshop was offered through the Gulbenkian Foundation and had a great impact on
Leek’s future compositional style. During this workshop, Leek was required to compose
a new work every day and each work was to reflect a topic or notion given to the
participants at the beginning of each day. It was during this time that he let go of
uniformity and let energy and movement speak to him and guide his future
compositions.
5
Upon graduation from university, Leek moved to Sydney where he worked as a
freelance cellist, composer, and music copyist. Soon after, he was offered a position with
the Tasmanian Dance Company, where he worked from 1984 until 1986. Leek then
returned to Sydney and continued to work as a freelance composer. During the late
1980s, he began to gain prominence as a composer while also developing a sense of the
importance of sharing contemporary Australian music with the community. He started
writing music that was accessible to children’s choirs, school choirs, and community
amateur ensembles.
3
Stephen Leek, interview, November 25, 2015.
4
Stephens, “Education for an Australian Choral Tradition”, 36.
5
Stephen Leek, interview, November 25, 2015.
70
It was during this time that Leek took part in the Rainforest Project, an event that
brought together young people from across Australia, including many Indigenous
children from Northern Australia. The project took place in the rainforest around
Kondalilla Falls, just north of Brisbane, and over a period of two weeks, Leek, along with
a writer, a theater director, and a dance choreographer explored with the children the
relationship between the rainforest and the local Indigenous culture. The objective of the
project was to search for ways to connect western culture to Indigenous culture and the
landscape. The outcome for Leek was to discover that all things were connected and this
experience contributed to his interest in the sounds of the rainforest, his understanding of
the Indigenous connection to the land, and the energy he found within the Australian
landscape.
6
Between 1987 and 1988, Leek took several composer residencies including the
Canberra Youth Theatre, the Sydney Youth Orchestra, and the St. Peter’s Lutheran
College in Brisbane.
7
His work at St. Peters led to a partnership between Leek and
Graeme Morton, the choral director at St. Peters. This relationship led to the writing of an
educational resource kit called Voiceworks in 1989, the establishment of the ArtsNow
Australia Association in 1990, and in 1994, the formation of The Australian Voices—a
choir of twenty-five to thirty choristers between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five.
8
The mission of The Australian Voices was to perform, premiere, record, and promote the
music of contemporary Australian composers.
9
Leek wished to offer young choral singers
6
Stephen Leek, interview, November 25, 2015.
7
Ibid.
8
Ibid.
9
The Australian Voices, “About (2011),” accessed February 22, 2015, http://www.theaustralianvoices.com.
71
and composers the opportunity to participate in an ensemble that allowed the members to
experiment, improvise, and experience a wide range of repertoire.
10
Leek’s compositional style is not based on any one compositional school of
thought, or any one teacher. His personal connection to the Australian landscape is what
inspires him to incorporate the sounds of nature into his works.
11
Harmonically, Leek’s
music is very simplistic. He often begins with a drone, influenced by the sound of the
didjeridu, and builds the structure of the music from that base. He is interested in the
energy of the music, energy attained through the use of color, movement, and texture.
When composing, he seeks elements, such as text, and vocal effects, that will depict the
landscape and bring it to life, and adds Indigenous components to further enhance the
connection between music and landscape, giving his music a uniquely Australian
identity.
One of Leek’s early works for choir, Voices of a Land (1991), includes three
movements. The first movement, “Cutty Sark,” tells the story of a sailing ship, the
Dunbar. On its entry into Sydney Harbor, the ship took a wrong turn and was wrecked on
the rocks of The Gap (see Example 5.1). The second movement, “Midsummer Noon,”
describes the heat of the midday sun in the Australian bush and includes the sounds of
tiny insects and native animals. The final movement, “Drovers,” tells of those who
worked in the land in early colonial Australia and the struggles and hardships faced by
many, who were unconditioned to the harsh environment. The texts for this work were by
Australian poets, Ethel Anderson (1883 – 1958), Charles Harpur (1813 – 1868), and
10
Stephen Leek, interview, November 25, 2015.
11
Leek, “Frequently asked questions,” accessed February 22, 2015.
72
Roland Robinson (1912 – 1992), and the setting is for two-part treble voices with piano
accompaniment.
12
The work was commissioned by the Sydney Children’s Choir and is an
example of Leek’s commitment to writing quality repertoire for children’s choir.
Example 5.1. Stephen Leek, “Cutty Sark” from Voices of a Land, opening measures.
Source: Stephen Leek, Voices of a Land (Ft. Lauderdale: Morton Music, 1991).
12
Stephen Leek, Voices of a Land (Ft. Lauderdale: Morton Music, 1991).
!
music: Stephen Leek
q = ca. 108
text: Ethel Anderson
Cutty Sark
for treble voices and piano
Stephen Leek
Piano
mp
mf
7
A
Pno.
1.When
mf
you're sail
ing - in strange har
bours
- Cut
ty - Sar
k, -
f
dim.
mf
11
B
Pno.
Cut
ty - Sar
k, - Cut
p
ty - Sar
k, - Cut
ty - Sar
k, - With
mf
the lines
man - call ing - sound
ings
-
p
mf
16
C
Pno.
by
the mar
k,
- Cut
p
ty - Sar
k, - Cut
ty - Sar
k, - 1.Do
4.In
mf
you hear
fa
f
my
thoms
--
p
mf
* text used with permission of
Angus and Robertson, Australia
mf
www.stephenleek.com
SAMPLE COPY
73
In 1991, Leek participated in another workshop that strongly influenced his
compositional style, particularly in regard to his relationship with Indigenous culture. The
Illuminations Project, instigated by the Tasmanian Dance Company, took place at
Cataract Gorge in Launceston, Tasmania, a very sacred site for the local Indigenous
community. The project was a collaboration between the local schools and the local
Indigenous people. Leek asked the local Indigenous leaders to be a part of the
performance. The leaders were hesitant at first but finally produced a hand written score
of a nineteenth century Indigenous song. Leek sang the song for them and they were very
moved. They asked him to teach them the song for the performance but then decided that
they would prefer to have him sing the song. In order for Leek to have permission to
perform this song, he met the elders of the Pallahwah people and was made an honorary
member of their community. This experience had a profound impact on Leek and
although he does not profess to having a deep understanding of Indigenous music
practices, his direct involvement with Indigenous communities has given him an insight
into the important connection that Aboriginal communities have with the Australian
landscape.
13
Riawanna (1994) was one of several compositions entitled In Construction, which
were composed specifically for the Illuminations Project. This work shows not only
Leek’s love of aleatoric music and improvisation (see Example 5.2), but it also shows his
renewed close connection to the Indigenous music of Australia. The title, Riawanna, is
from the Pallahwah language. “Riawanna” is the traditional word for circles and the other
13
Stephen Leek, interview, November 25, 2015.
74
text found in this work, “Powamena Gunta,” is the traditional name of Mother Earth.
14
Leek explained the experimental nature of this work as follows:
Within the framework of an indigenous Australian word, which means “the circle
of life”, Riawanna is suited to any age of singer. It is a most useful piece in
helping young singers identify the raw ingredients and essential materials of a
work. The process of making their own music out of the materials provided,
assists singers in understanding the construction process of a composition. It also
helps them to understand that you do not need lots of ideas or materials to build a
successful piece. Apart from the rhythmic component, this piece of any duration
(or complexity) also explores basic harmonic singing techniques (which
encourages mouth shape experimentation) and the exploration of choral colour
(which aids a choir’s development in every possible way – no matter what music
they are singing).
15
14
Stephen Leek, Riawanna (Ft. Lauderdale: Morton Music, 1994).
15
Ibid.
75
Example 5.2. Stephen Leek, Riawanna.
Source: Stephen Leek, Riawanna (Ft. Lauderdale: Morton Music, 1994).
76
Great Southern Spirits (1995) contains four movements, “Wirindji,” “Mulga,”
“Kondalilla,” and “Uluru.” In this work, Leek combines the elements of the Australian
landscape with the influence of the Indigenous people’s stories and traditions. In Leek’s
own words, “I like the way that the two ideas collide head on, the rawness of the
Australian landscape and the Dreamtime ideals.”
16
The first movement, “Wirindji,”
describes a small group of women who lured nomadic men to their camps by stamping
their feet into the red dust. The rising of the dust created a colorful mist that drifted in the
wind, enticing men to follow it to the women’s camps. Once they arrived at the camps,
the women mated with them, killed them, cooked them, and ate them in a feast of
celebration.
17
The second movement, “Mulga,” depicts the hushed whispers of spirit voices, as
they travel through the Mulga trees, creating an eerie stillness. The Mulga is a dense
scrub found in the outback. Leek creates the eerie stillness through staggered entrances
creating a canonic effect through the middle of the movement, and through the division
of the text “mulga” between the three lower voice parts (see Example 5.3).
16
Leek, “Frequently asked questions,” accessed February 22, 2015.
17
Stephen Leek, Great Southern Spirits (Toowong: Morton Music, 1995).
77
Example 5.3. Stephen Leek, “Mulga” from Great Southern Spirits.
Source:
Stephen Leek, Great Southern Spirits (Toowong: Morton Music, 1995).
78
The third movement, “Kondalilla,” is the name of a waterfall in a small remaining
pocket of rainforest in South East Queensland. The work is expressive on a number of
textual and musical levels and the symbolism of the work is simple but effective.
According to the Indigenous Dreamtime stories of this area, “Kondalilla” is the spirit of
falling water (represented in Leek’s composition by the slowly cascading phrases of the
sopranos and altos) that feeds Ouyen, the spirit of still water (represented in the opening
section of Leek’s score by the calm sustained pedal of the tenors and basses). Although
this work is aleatoric in nature, both the soprano and alto parts are notated (see Example
5.4). The entrances, however, are staggered to create an aleatoric effect and to ensure that
no two performances are ever the same.
79
Example 5.4. “Kondalilla” from Great Southern Spirits.
80
The final movement of Great Southern Spirits is “Uluru,” the most sacred of all
Aboriginal spiritual places. Uluru, more commonly known as Ayres Rock, is a popular
tourist destination in the middle of the Australian outback. For Aboriginals, however, it is
the place where the creation of the Dreamtime took place, and therefore where all life
began. Leek creates the sounds of the Australian outback and the illusion of the
Dreamtime through nasal timbres, random whispers, and the use of vocal harmonic
overtones (see Examples 5.5 and 5.6).
Example 5.5. “Uluru” from Great Southern Spirits.
81
Example 5.6. “Uluru” from Great Southern Spirits.
Leek’s Island Songs (1995) is one of his best-known works among choirs of all
ages and abilities within Australia. The three-movement work includes “Monkey and
Turtle,” “Trade Winds,” and “Morning Tide,” and are adaptions of traditional songs of
the islands from the north of Australia. Leek did not attempt to translate or interpret the
82
text or language traditionally used; however, he wished to capture the joy of singing,
which is at the center of all music making in this region (see Example 5.7).
18
Example 5.7. “Monkey and Turtle” from Island Songs, opening measures.
Source: Stephen Leek, Island Songs (Toowong: Morton Music, 1994).
18
Stephen Leek, Island Songs (Toowong: Morton Music, 1994), i.
°
¢
°
¢
°
¢
h = ca 96
Light and playful
Monkey and Turtle
for SSAA acappella choir
text and melody: Trad.
music: Stephen Leek
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
A
Soprano
Soprano
Alto
Alto
5
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.
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S.
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1.Mon key
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speakfor Tur
Tur tle
tle -
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Mon key - Tur tle, - Mon key - Tur tle, - Mon key - Tur -
&
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Mon key - Tur tle, - Mon key - Tur tle, - Mon key - Tur -
&
#
#
#
Mon key - Tur tle, - Mon key - Tur tle, - Mon key - Tur -
&
#
#
#
"You
them
stop
two go
ya! I
them
go
to
knock
find
ee
'em
- one
one
ba
ba
na
na
-
- na.
na." -
- Boss he come and
&
#
#
#
tle, - Mon key - Tur tle, - one ba na - na. - Boss he come
&
#
#
#
tle, - Mon key -
Tur tle, - one ba na - na. - Boss he come
&
#
#
#
tle,
-
Mon key -
Tur tle, - one ba na - na. - Boss he
&
#
#
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shoot y - them two, them two fall down Bel lly - up eh, - Mu ta - bu lly - fly
&
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#
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Boss he come Be lly - up eh, Mu ta - bu lly - fly
&
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Boss he come Be lly - up eh,
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&
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www.stephenleek.com
SAMPLE COPY
83
Songs of Passage (1994) was written for Graeme Morton and the St. Peters
Chorale. Leek wrote this soon after completing Island Songs and visiting and working
with the Indigenous people of Tasmania. Leek had “long been interested in the ways that
different cultures celebrate their cultural differences through music vastly different in
sound, structure, energy level, and the way that they are performed.”
19
He wished to
capture the different sounds that he had heard in different areas of Australia.
20
The work
is in five movements with each Indigenous title having special meaning in the Aboriginal
language. “Tabulam” means my home; “Ngayulyul” is the place where the hawk dreams;
“Coraparena” means the flat country; “Ceduna” is a deep blue water hole; and “Ngana”
represents several words that relate to the sea and celebration. The five movements can
all be performed as individual works, with “Tabulam” being the most difficult due to the
sopranos singing in a different meter to the rest of the choir (see Example 5.8). In the last
work of the suite, Leek uses a number of Indigenous words: “Ngana” is the place of
sharks, “ya” means welcome, “lina” is water, and “mangana” is where there are many
fish.
21
Leek chose the text and the musical elements based on the texture he desired. The
Indigenous words used allowed him to combine consonants and vowels, both open and
closed, in a way that create energy while representing the different elements of the
Australian landscape. For example, the unusual meter incorporated into “Tabulam”
19
Stephen Leek, Songs of Passage (Toowong: Morton Music, 1994), i.
20
Stephen Leek, interview, November 25, 2015.
21
Stephen Leek, Songs of Passage (Toowong: Morton Music, 1994), i.
84
creates a percussive element that for Leek represents the energy of the Australian
landscape that he has experienced during his travels.
22
22
Stephen Leek, interview, November 25, 2015.
85
Example 5.8. “Tabulam” from Songs of Passage, unusual meter.
Source: Stephen Leek, Songs of Passage (Toowong: Morton Music, 1994).
86
Ancient Cries is a set of three works for treble or mixed voices and piano,
commissioned in 1996 by The National Boys Choir, conducted by Peter Casey. Leek
wrote his own text that captures the energy, color and diversity of the Australian
landscape. He also employs several Aboriginal words: “Boogoodoogada” which means
rainbird, “Myoon-myoon” which means red earth, and “Goolay-yali” which means
pelican dance.
23
As seen in Example 5.9, the Aboriginal words add a percussive
component to the work, while the piano accompaniment gives a sense of joy and life with
asymmetrical meters and syncopation. The text for this work came from words that Leek
collected throughout his Australian travels, from books and other reading material, and
also from the post code book. Many towns and cities throughout Australia have names
that come from Indigenous culture. Leek is attracted to words which have rhythm and
energy. He chooses words based on their sound and then researches the meaning and
finds a way to connect with the text.
24
23
Stephen Leek, Rainbird (Toowong: Morton Music, 1997), i.
24
Stephen Leek, interview, November 25, 2015.
87
Example 5.9. “Goolay-yali” from Ancient Cries.
Source: Stephen Leek, Ancient Cries (Toowong: Morton Music, 1996).
J
J
60
S.
A.
T.
B.
Pno.
Goo
f cresc.
lay - ya
- li, - Goo
lay - ya
- li,
- Goo lay - ya
- li, - Goo
lay - ya
(shout)
- li,
-
Goo
f cresc.
lay - ya
- li, - Goo
lay - ya
- li,
- Goo lay - ya
- li, - Goo
lay - ya
(shout)
- li,
-
Goo
f cresc.
lay - ya
- li, - Goo
lay - ya
- li,
-
Goo lay - ya
- li, - Goo
lay - ya
(shout)
- li,
-
Goo
f cresc.
lay - ya
- li, - Goo
lay - ya
- li,
-
Goo lay - ya
- li, - Goo
lay - ya
(shout)
- li,
-
mf cresc.
K
K
64
L
L
S.
A.
T.
B.
Pno.
O
mf
ver
(sing) legato
- hill
and
mount
tain,
-
O
mf
ver
(sing) legato
- hill
and
mf
O
(sing) legato
ver
- hill
and
mount
tain,
-
Goo
mf (sing) " steely" tone
- lay
ya - - - li,
Goo lay -
- ya
li,
-
mf
www.stephenleek.com
SAMPLE COPY
7
88
The Hunter Singers, a youth choir from Newcastle in New South Wales
conducted by Kim Sutherland (b. 1960), commissioned Leek to write Glasshouses in
2000. It is a three- movement work based on the Dreamtime stories associated with the
Glasshouse Mountains, situated on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. While
the first and third movements, “Shrouds” and “Beerburrum,” are named after places with
special Indigenous meaning, the second movement, “Coonawrin,” also tells one of the
Dreamtime stories. “Coonawrin” is the name of one of the Glasshouse Mountains. The
movement tells the story of Tibrogargen, the father of a large family who sees the waters
of the ocean rising. He tells his son, Coonawrin, to take his pregnant mother and siblings
to the safety of higher ground. However, instead of assisting his family, Coonawrin turns
and makes his own escape from the rising seas. Tibrogargen sees this and throws a large
stick (a nulla nulla) at his son, breaking his neck. Tribrogargen looks out to the sea in
sorrow, deeply ashamed of the cowardly actions of his son. Leek depicts the rising of the
sea through glissandos in the bass section, combined with close canonic work in the
upper sections (see Example 5.10). His use of changing meter, close intervals, and
uneven accents creates a sense of drama that builds to a climax before changing abruptly
to a serene, homophonic, and reflective ending (see Example 5.11).
89
Example 5.10. Stephen Leek, “Coonawrin” from Glasshouses.
Source: Stephen Leek, Glasshouses (Self published, 2000).
K
S.
A.
T.
B.
Feeltheforce
of nu
lla - nu
- lla - Feel
theforce
of my blow!
Fall
a cross
- your
back
(k). -
Feeltheforce
of nu
lla - nu
- lla - Feel
theforce
of my blow!
Fall
a cross
- your
back
(k). -
nu lla - nu
- lla. -
Feel
theforce
of my blow!
Fall
a cross
- your
back
(k). -
nu lla - nu
- lla. -
Feel
theforce
of my blow!
Fall
a cross
- your
back
(k). -
S.
A.
T.
B.
1.mf
2.f
See
the
o
cean
- ri sing
-
Coon a
- wrin,
-
See
1.mf
2.f
the
o
cean
- ri sing
-
Coon a
- wrin,
-
Coon
-
See
1.mf
2.f
the
o
cean
- ri sing
-
Coon a
- wrin,
-
Ah
f
gliss.
MAMAMA
L
S.
A.
T.
B.
Coon a
- wrin,
- Ah
Ah
a
wrin,
- See
the
o
cean
- ri sing
-
Coon
-
Coon a
- wrin,
-
See
the
o
cean
- ri sing
-
Ah
f
gliss.
MAMAMA
SAMPLE SCORE
DO NOT COPY
www.stephenleek.com
6
90
Example 5.11. Stephen Leek, “Coonawrin” from Glasshouses, ending.
P
A tempo,
molto legato
S.
A.
T.
B.
Turn
my
gaze
to
the
o
cean,
-
I
will
not
look
on
the
face
- s of
my
shame.
Turn
p
my
gaze
to
the
o
cean,
-
I
p
will
not
look
on
the
face
s
- of
my shame.
Turn
p
my
gaze
to
the
o
cean,
-
p
I
will
not
look
on
the
face
s
- of
my
shame.
mp
Turn
p
p
my
gaze
to
the
o
cean,
-
p
p
I
will
not
look
on
the
face
s
- of
my
shame.
Q
R
S.
A.
T.
B.
For
e
- ver
- watchthe
cry
stal
- wa
ters,
-
There
my
fate
to gaze
out
to
the
3
sea.
For
mp
e
- ver
- watch
the
cry
stal
- wa
ters,
-
There
my
fate
to
gaze
out
to
the
3
sea.
For
mp
e
- ver
- watch
the
cry
stal
- wa
ters,
-
There,
There
my
fate
to
gaze
out
to
the
sea.
mp
For
e
- ver
- watch
the
cry
stal
- wa
ters,
-
There
my
fate
to
gaze
out
to
the
sea.
S
rall.
S.
A.
T.
B.
And
hide
my
sor
row
- and
my
shame,
Ne
ver
- to
see
my
love
a
gain.
-
And
hide
my
sor
row
- and
my
shame,
Ne
ver
- to
see
my
love
a
gain.
-
And
hide
my
sor
row
- and
my
shame,
Ne
ver
- to
see
my
love
a
gain.
-
And
hide
my
sor
row
- and
my
shame,
Ne
ver
- to
see
my
love
a
gain.
-
SAMPLE SCORE
DO NOT COPY
www.stephenleek.com
9
91
Two of Leek’s more recent works are Blue Australian Skies (2010) for four-part
men’s chorus, and Cambrewarra (2012) for four-part treble voices. Both works continue
to illustrate Leek’s connection to the landscape of Australia. Blue Australian Skies is a
bright, uplifting a cappella work, commissioned by the Sydney Male Choir on the
occasion of the retirement of their conductor, Alan Thrift (b. 1930). Cambrewarra
depicts a mountain fire with strength and intensity. Leek uses huge dynamic contrasts,
cross rhythms, and nasal sounding text, along with clapping and stamping in an apparent
attempt to create the intensity of a large fire (see Example 5.12). This work was
commissioned by the Hong Kong Treble Choir and continues Leek’s love affair with
writing about the landscape of his home country.
92
Example 5.12. Stephen Leek, Cambrewarra.
Source: Stephen Leek, Cambrewarra (Self published, 2012).
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30
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35
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93
Chapter 6
The Choral Music of Sarah Hopkins
Sarah Hopkins grew up surrounded by music. The daughter of orchestral
conductor John Hopkins (1927 – 2013), her childhood was spent meeting both Australian
and international composers and performers, and attending concerts, many of which were
premieres of new works.
25
Hopkins was born in New Zealand in 1958 but moved to
Sydney, Australia at age five when her father became director of music for the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). John Hopkins later became the founding dean of the
Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne in 1973, and Sarah moved there, where she
completed a Diploma of Music majoring in cello performance, and a Post Graduate
Diploma in composition and contemporary cello techniques under Richard Hames (b.
1945).
An experience in 1978 with Dutch cello legend Anner Bylsma (b. 1934), a
visiting artist in residence at the Victorian College of Arts, may have been the key to the
future direction of Hopkins’ music. Bylsma’s specialty was authentic Bach performance,
but he had a passion for contemporary cello music, and he invited the then nineteen year-
old to perform one of her own compositions for a master class.
26
“I brought my huge
guitar amplifier in, sat it on the stage,” Sarah recalls. “Early into the piece when I started
to rev up the volume with my foot pedal I remember seeing one of the key cello teachers
stick her fingers in her ears and other people follow suit. My heart died. I was thinking,
25
Sarah Hopkins, e-mail message to author, December 3, 2015.
26
Ibid.
94
‘Oh no, this is the end of me’!”
27
Hopkins’ continued to play, waiting nervously at the
end of the performance to see what Bylsma would say. He announced to the audience,
“Isn’t it maaarvelous!”
28
Bylsma’s response to the performance was a very public “stamp
of approval” from an internationally regarded master cellist. This approval encouraged
Hopkins to continue to explore new directions, particularly in regard to improvisation,
which became her passion from 1978 until 1981.
29
Hopkins was captivated by experimental music and, “rather than take her father’s
advice and continue her classical cello studies with William Pleeth in London, she moved
to London and spent eighteen months travelling and performing contemporary music,
including her own compositions, around Europe.”
30
In late 1979, Hopkins received an
International Fellowship from the Music Board of the Australia Council to travel to
England and Europe where she attended various courses in new music including
Darmstadt and Gaudeamus, and performed her own compositions as a solo cellist. She
also performed with composer/trombonist, James Fulkerson in a contemporary music
duo, spent time improvising with musicians from the London Musician’s Collective, and
toured for six months with the feminist theatre collective, “Cunning Stunts.”
31
While in Germany, Hopkins discovered the technique that shaped many of her
future choral works. “I came across a man sitting cross-legged in a park singing harmonic
overtones. The experience was profound on many levels because the harmonic overtone
27
Rosalind Appleby, Women of Note (Freemantle: Freemantle Press, 2012), 129.
28
Ibid.
29
Sarah Hopkins, e-mail message to author, December 3, 2015.
30
Ibid.
31
Ibid.
95
series became the fundamental, the rock solid foundation of all my music.”
32
Harmonic
overtone singing is based on Hoomei throat singing, a technique indigenous to Western
Mongolia, and the overtone chanting of Tantric Tibetan Buddhism.
33
In this type of
singing, two pitches can be heard simultaneously, a fundamental note in the low register,
and a second pitch consisting of high harmonics or overtones which are the natural upper
partials of the fundamental note. In addition to teaching herself to sing overtones,
Hopkins also invented a bowing technique, which produced similar sounds on the cello.
Although her experiences in Europe were inspiring, Hopkins returned to Australia
in 1981 for a musician-in-residence project at the Gippsland Institute of Advanced
Education (GIAE), in Victoria.
34
After returning to Australia, she was keen to see more
of the country and completed further musician-in-residence projects in the Northern
Territory. Hopkins chose to make Darwin her home in 1981 due to her love of the natural
beauty found in this area. She also wished to develop her own unique voice without the
influence of Europe, America, or the large urban cities of Australia. She resonated deeply
with the land and believes that she had a past life there as an Aboriginal woman.
35
In
1982, at the end of a three month musician-in-residence project for the Northern Territory
Arts Council called Let’s Make Music, she was involved in a serious car accident
fracturing her back and her neck resulting in her having to learn to walk again. This was a
life-changing event for Hopkins who saw this second chance at life as an opportunity to
amplify positive life force in everything she did. Whilst recovering in hospital she
32
Appleby, Women of Note, 131.
33
Sarah Hopkins, Past Life Melodies (Toowong: Morton Music, 1992).
34
Sarah Hopkins, e-mail message to author, December 3, 2015.
35
Ibid.
96
committed herself to “creating music of a healing and uplifting nature.”
36
One
composition is Cello Chi, for solo cello and cellist’s voice (harmonic overtone singing)
inspired by the beauty of the Northern Territory landscape in Northern Australia and first
performed at Sydney’s Performance Space as part of the 1986 Sydney Biennale.
Hopkins met her husband in Gove, Arnhem Land, Northern Territory in 1982 and
they made Darwin their home for nine years. In 1990 they moved to Brisbane and in
1992 Hopkins became a cultural ambassador for the Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade. She separated from her husband in 1998 and soon after set up her business selling
Harmonic Whirlies, musical instruments she created from plastic corrugated tubing.
37
Hopkins had been searching for musical instruments that anyone could play and when a
composer friend gave her a child’s toy whirly called a “blugal,” she knew that this was
what she had been searching for.
38
This whirly became very popular when Hopkins used
it during her workshops in Northern Australia. When visiting Yirrkala, an Aboriginal
community, the whirly was tossed between members of her audience with everyone
wanting a turn, making Hopkins determined to return with whirlies for everyone.
39
This
experience inspired Hopkins to create a range of precisely tuned whirlies that could be
used with other instruments. The result was the Harmonic Whirly Sets, consisting of
sixteen precisely tuned “celestial” instruments.
40
36
Sarah Hopkins, e-mail message to author, December 3, 2015.
37
Ibid.
38
Sarah Hopkins, The Harmonic Whirlies Story, last modified 2001, accessed February 14, 2015,
http://www.harmonicwhirlies.com/story.
39
Ibid.
40
Ibid.
97
Hopkins has been making harmonic whirlies since 1982 and has taken them to
Europe, England, America and South East Asia. In 1983, they were used in performances
of Hopkins’ music in the Pompidou Centre, Paris, and West Broadway, New York. Other
projects followed, including the Darwin Whirliworks Project (1984), Soundkites Projects
(1985-87), Whirly Dance Projects in Melbourne and Tasmania (1986-87), and the Sky
Song Project (1988). With her whirlies, Hopkins collaborated with physicist Paul
Doherty in San Francisco in 1988, and in 1996 she met Mike Robinson, an English
spiritual teacher and healer, whom encouraged Hopkins to produce her whirlies
commercially as vibrational healing tools.
During the 1990s, Hopkins further explored her deepening interest in spiritual
matters. At the same time, she was writing vocal music for the first time. Her first, and
most successful choral work to date is Past Life Melodies (1991) for mixed voice a
cappella choir (see Example 6.1). Past Life Melodies has become Hopkins’ signature
work and is perhaps the most recognized Australian choral work in the United States. It is
based on two melodies that came to her during meditation. Hopkins describes it this way:
“The ‘yeh’ melody came to me in 1988 during a time of deep grief and immediately it
was a melody of profound connection, known and remembered as though it were a song
from a past lifetime. The aboriginal chant sang through me in May 1990 in Darwin, as if
there was an old Aboriginal woman chanting deep inside me.”
41
41
Appleby, Women of Note, 133.
98
Example 6.1. Sarah Hopkins, Past Life Melodies, aboriginal inspired chant.
Source: Sarah Hopkins, Past Life Melodies (Toowong: Morton Music, 1992).
99
The performance of Past Life Melodies requires singers to use a nasal, guttural
tone as seen in Example 6.1, and harmonic overtone singing is employed in the final
section (see Example 6.2) giving a simple but effective finale. This work has won fans
worldwide but perhaps the most significant fan is Hopkins’ own father. Upon hearing this
work for the first time, he immediately phoned his daughter to say that he could hear it as
an orchestral work.
42
She dedicated the orchestral version to him and he has conducted it
many times since.
Example 6.2. Sarah Hopkins, Past Life Melodies, final page.
42
Sarah Hopkins, e-mail message to author, December 3, 2015.
100
Hopkins has developed a philosophy that shows through her choral compositions.
She explains her philosophy this way:
As a composer-performer, my desire is to create music which resonates with the
space and energy of the Australian landscape as well as the inner landscape of the
human psyche. I want my music to move and inspire people and reconnect them
with the heart of life. Compositionally I trust the power of the simple, direct and
heartfelt; and am guided by my intuition. Sometimes dreams and visions inspire
my music. Often melodies literally “sing through” me as was the case in Past Life
Melodies, Two Kyries from the Winds of Heaven, Return to Joy, and Honour the
Earth as your Mother. I often feel like a song-catcher and dream-weaver, creating
sonic tapestries to bridge heaven and earth with the songs from my soul.
She goes on to say:
When composing for choirs, it’s the natural voice and its inherent qualities that I
choose to explore and express, rather than classically trained voices. I explore
resonant hums, sonic colour, open-throated chant singing inspired by the Eastern
European folk tradition, African and Aboriginal chants, also harmonic overtone
singing which has its roots in Tuva, Mongolia and Tibet and brings out the
inherent overtones within any note sung.
43
Honour the Earth was originally published with the title Honour the Earth as
your Mother. Hopkins revised the work in 2000 and renamed it Honour the Earth. There
are several versions of this work including two shorter four-minute versions for treble
voices and mixed voices. It can be performed a cappella or accompanied by small
ensemble or orchestra. Hopkins has written five accompaniment scores including those
for small ensemble of five players, concert band, orchestra, string orchestra, and cello
ensemble. All versions also include parts for percussion and optional didjeridu. Hopkins
supplies detailed performance information within the score. In Hopkins’ words, “Honour
the Earth is a song of grateful praise to Mother Earth and a plea for us all to honour
43
Sarah Hopkins, Music for the Soul, last modified 2012, February 14, 2015,
http://www.sarahhopkins.com/philos.
101
her.”
44
In this work, Hopkins has combined many cultural influences from the “earth
tribes” including Native American, African (see Example 6.3), Celtic (see Example 6.4),
Aboriginal (see Example 6.5), and Mongolian (overtone singing), as well as music from
nature, including birdcalls and flowing streams. She has also included the following self-
written prose that is often recited by a member of the choir as an introduction to the work.
We are living in powerful times.
Opportunities abound for us all to fulfill our soul’s callings
And become the wondrous beings we truly are.
See the living spark of the Divine in all people and all things
Honour it and love it absolutely.
Honour the Earth as your Mother,
Honour the Earth as your Friend.
See her beauty and be nourished and cleansed by her pure waters…
Sing songs of grateful praise for the abundant blessings
Right here and right now in our lives…
Know that each one of us has our special part to play;
No one greater than another…
Ant that it is time for us all to be fully living our dreams,
Fully manifesting heaven on earth now!
45
Example 6.3. Sarah Hopkins, Honour the Earth, African chant.
44
Sarah Hopkins, Honour the Earth (Self-published score, 2000).
45
Ibid.
102
Example 6.3. Sarah Hopkins, Honour the Earth, continued
Source: Sarah Hopkins, Honour the Earth (Self-published score, 2000).
Example 6.4. Sarah Hopkins, Honour the Earth, Celtic influence.
Example 6.5. Sarah Hopkins, Honour the Earth, Harmonic overtone singing and
Didjeridu feature.
103
In 2003, Hopkins was commissioned by the Queensland Music Festival to
compose a work for community choir and orchestra. Childers Shining is a suite of nine
songs for SATB and SA choir and orchestra, didjeridu, and percussion. Many of these
songs can be sung either unaccompanied or accompanied by keyboard and percussion
with optional didgeridu in C. In honor of this composition, a new housing estate near the
regional Queensland town of Childers has been titled Childers Shining.
46
Ancient Forests Once Stood Here (2008) is dedicated to all the ancient forests of
earth.
47
Commissioned by The Birralee Blokes for the Pemulwuy National Male Voice
Festival, the work evokes the Dreamtime spirit of Australia and was inspired by a
vision.
48
Sarah writes,
In November 2006 after one of my performances for cello and didjeridu, a
clairvoyant woman in the audience shared with me that whilst I was emulating the
sound of the didjeridu on my cello, she’d seen a vision of a huge Ancient Tree
Deva, a Dreamtime Spirit who told her it had been called in by my music and that
“Ancient Forests once stood here”…
This Dreamtime Ancestral Being told her that it still lives in this area of Sandgate
(Queensland) and is connected to all the trees, birds, bats and lagoons in the area.
As she watched the entire hall melted away giving way to an Ancient Forest…
49
Hopkins was very moved by the vision and created this work in honor of the Tree
Deva and the ancient forests that once stood. Programmatic in nature, the work takes the
listener deep into the heart of the ancient forest depicting the sounds of nature, “sonic
46
Sarah Hopkins, e-mail message to author, December 3, 2015.
47
Sarah Hopkins, Ancient Forests Once Stood Here (Self-published score, 2008).
48
Ibid.
49
Ibid.
104
light rays”, and “magical winds.”
50
The work features several of Hopkins’ signature
elements including birdcalls (see Example 6.6), harmonic overtone singing (see Example
6.7), harmonic whirlies (see Example 6.7), and the use of the didjeridu. Like much of her
choral music, the harmonies are very simplistic, with the whole work alternating between
a D drone and a C drone and prolific use of the open fifth interval (see Example 6.7). The
melodies are chant-like and highly rhythmic and although the work is scored for
didjeridu, the voices also imitate the sound of the didjeridu and may replace the
instrument if one is not available.
Example 6.6. Sarah Hopkins, Ancient Forests Once Stood Here, Bird calls.
Source: Sarah Hopkins, Ancient Forests Once Stood Here (Self-published score, 2008).
50
Sarah Hopkins, Ancient Forests Once Stood Here (Self-published score, 2008).
105
Example 6.7. Sarah Hopkins, Ancient Forests Once Stood Here, Harmonic overtone
singing, harmonic whirlies, and use of the open fifth interval.
106
Hopkins directs much of her energy towards community projects with the desire
to use music to unite and inspire people. Her current projects are far removed from her
early experimental works but her newer works are highly accessible to choirs of all
abilities. Her sense of spirituality dictates everything she does and she uses clairvoyant
healers to advise her, and her circle of friends, made up of artists and healers, to support
her.
Hopkins continues to compose and collaborate with other artists. In 2000, she
collaborated with the Gyuto Monks of Tibet, Anne Norman (shakuhachi), and Chris
Neville (didjeridu) to produce Sounds of Global Harmony, an album of chanted prayers,
compositions, and improvisations released by Gyuto House Australia.
51
More recently (2013), Hopkins created an eight-minute Healing Circle for
Reconciliation ceremony/group workshop process which includes her music for cello and
didjeridu with includes narration, visual symbols, and a sorry ceremony. She facilitates
and performs this ceremony within Indigenous studies programs in secondary schools in
Australia.
52
51
Sarah Hopkins, e-mail message to author, December 13, 2015.
52
Ibid.
107
Chapter 7
The Choral Music of Iain Grandage
Iain Grandage grew up in Perth, Western Australia, and spent his youth
participating in local orchestras and choirs. At the age of eleven, he joined a junior string
orchestra as a cellist, and by the age of thirteen, he was playing with the West Australian
Youth Symphony Orchestra. The majority of Grandage’s early music training came
through a program run by Richard Gill (b. 1941) called The Junior Exhibitioner Course.
1
Here, on Friday afternoons, he participated in group singing, instrumental playing,
composition lessons, and aural training.
When Grandage began studying at the University of Western Australia in Perth,
his plan was to study law; however, during his first year he fell in love with music and
due to the encouragement Richard Gill, and fellow composer, Brian Howard (b. 1951), he
chose to pursue a career in composition. Grandage studied with Roger Smalley (b. 1943),
and was also influenced by observing Anthony Payne (b. 1936), the English composer
who finished Edward Elgar’s (1857 – 1934) Symphony No. 3, Op. 88. Grandage met
Payne, when Payne and his wife, Jane Manning (b. 1934) travelled to Australia. Payne
never took formal composition lessons but spoke with Grandage about how he learned by
observing the work of other composers, trying to work out how and why they wrote the
1
Lorraine Milne, “Iain Grandage and his wheatbelt,” Resonate Magazine (June 2009), accessed February
21, 2015, http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/article/iain-grandage-and-his-em-wheatbelt-em.
108
way they did. Grandage’s experiences playing in orchestras and singing in ensembles
governed the way he composed.
2
Grandage is heavily influenced by the Australian landscape, which is reflected in
his Three Australian Bush Songs (1994). Although the compositional style of much of the
music found in these songs is more English in nature, there are several particularly
Australian elements incorporated in this work such as birdcalls and extra-musical noises.
3
Composed for the University of Western Australia Collegium Musicum, conducted by
Margaret Pride (b. 1950), Three Bush Carols were written for a 1991 Christmas event.
They were later reworked into Three Australian Bush Songs also premiered by the same
choir in 1994.
The first movement, “Dawn,” is based on the shape of the rising sun, beginning
on one note and expanding out harmonically (see Example 7.1).
4
The second phrase
begins with the ascending movement doubling the tempo of the descending, creating new
harmonic options. The “process of expansion out from and diminution back to a single
note occurs throughout the movement.”
5
2
Lorraine Milne, “Iain Grandage and his wheatbelt,” Resonate Magazine (June 2009), accessed February
21, 2015, http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/article/iain-grandage-and-his-em-wheatbelt-em.
3
Iain Grandage, e-mail message to author, December 29, 2014.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
109
Example 7.1. Iain Grandage, “Dawn” from Three Australian Bush Songs, opening
measures.
Source: Iain Grandage, Three Australian Bush Songs (Toowong: Morton Music Publications, 1999).
The second movement, “Birds,” incorporates asymmetrical meter with a presto
tempo marking providing a dance-like feel full of rhythmic vitality, which imitates the
natural sounds of the Australian bush (see Example 7.2).
6
While the rhythmic material is
6
Iain Grandage, Three Australian Bush Songs (Toowong: Morton Music Publications, 1999).
110
the driving force of this movement, it is homophonic in style. Grandage discovered
through his time singing in choirs that rhythmic counterpoint was very time consuming in
terms of rehearsal time, therefore he chose to simplify the rhythms, making the work
“more performable.”
7
Example 7.2. Iain Grandage, “Birds” from Three Australian Bush Songs, opening
measures.
7
Iain Grandage, e-mail message to author, December 29, 2014.
!
111
Example 7.2. Iain Grandage, “Birds” from Three Australian Bush Songs, continued.
The final movement, “Sunset,” returns to a slower tempo and includes lush
harmonies, including frequent use of the flattened sixth (see Example 7.3). Grandage
states that this was implemented based on texture, notably the half-step interval away
from the fifth (flattened sixth), rather than for melodic or modal reasons.
8
All three movements of Three Australian Bush Songs alternate between cluster
harmonies and stark open fifths, reflecting the nature of the vast, barren Australian
landscape. The texture of the work is further amplified by the birdcalls found in the first
and second movements.
9
8
Grandage, Three Australian Bush Songs.
9
Iain Grandage, e-mail message to author, December 29, 2014.
!
112
Example 7.3. Iain Grandage, “Sunset” from Three Australian Bush Songs, frequent use of
flattened sixth.
113
Although composed in 1993, Hush: On the death of a Bush Church was not
premiered until 1996 by St. Peters Chorale, conducted by Graeme Morton. This work
expresses Grandage’s connection to the Australian landscape as well as his recognition of
the original landowners, the Aborigines. The concept for this work first came to
Grandage when he came across a photograph of a ruined church in the north of Australia.
Due to his mildly Christian upbringing, this picture resonated with him, but also brought
his attention to the ruination of a multitude of sacred Aboriginal sites brought about by
white Australia’s disregard for Aboriginal culture. Grandage explains that for Indigenous
people, “every rock, lake, valley, or hill has its own songs and stories. Thus the
‘ruination’ can be less easy to see, certainly less easy for us non-indigenous Australians
to truly comprehend.”
10
The work includes both Aboriginal and English text and incorporates a pentatonic
scale, as found in many Aboriginal melodies. The work concludes with a fifth in the
choral parts with a soloist singing the pentatonic descending scale using an Aboriginal
text (see Example 7.4). The interval of a fifth is often used within Australian choral
compositions to represent the emptiness of the central Australian landscape. Grandage
used this interval in Three Australian Bush Songs to represent the “openness of the bush
experience,”
11
and in this work, he combines this element with the Indigenous pentatonic
influence and Aboriginal text.
10
Iain Grandage, “Hush,” accessed February 21, 2015, http://www.iaingrandage.com/work-
categories/choral/.
11
Iain Grandage, e-mail message to author, December 29, 2014.
114
Example 7.4. Iain Grandage, Hush: On the death of a Bush Church, final measures.
Source: Iain Grandage, Hush: On the death of a Bush Church (Toowong: Morton Music Publications,
1998).
Wheatbelt (2007) is written for unaccompanied voices and percussion including
three harmonic whirlies, windchimes, and güiro. The text is by Kevin Gillam, a West
Australian poet who Grandage knew from his time in the Western Australian Youth
Orchestra. Gillam was principal cellist when Grandage first joined the orchestra. In this
work, Grandage attempts to create the sounds and imagery of the West Australian
Wheatbelt. According to Lorraine Milne, Grandage combines two elements that resonate
with his personal experiences travelling to this remote part of Australia. First, there are
the sounds that are never heard within the city, including such things as the breeze, or the
delicate ringing of wind chimes, or a wicker chair. Secondly, there is a euphoric feeling
115
that comes from having such a large space in which to live and explore, a feeling that is
uniquely Australian.
12
Grandage composed this work soon after a period as composer-in-residence with
the Western Australia Symphony Orchestra (WASO). During his time with WASO, he
had the opportunity to travel to the Western Australian desert and collaborate with the
Spinifex people, the traditional Indigenous owners of the lands on the western edge of the
desert. Grandage spent many hours driving to this very isolated community, and couldn’t
help but be affected by the enormous space he encountered, and the endless wheat fields
where there was once bush land. He wished to combine the elements of the isolated
Aboriginal community, rich with culture and spirituality, with the empty space of the
desert, while focusing on a specifically Western Australian theme.
13
The sounds of the wheatbelt are imitated in this work by the native Australian
birdcalls and the wind noises, as well as the harmonic whirlies, wind chimes, and small
percussion instruments (see Example 7.5).
14
The work opens mysteriously with the B
harmonic whirlie, followed by a build-up of voices both in terms of dynamic level and
harmonic texture. Grandage utilizes intervals of seconds and fifths to create an illusion of
spaciousness. The fifth remains as he moves into a faster tempo and begins to tell the
story through the text of the poem in the upper voices. Throughout the beginning of this
section, a small subgroup improvises the sounds of cicadas, birds, and the wind, while the
percussion instruments make the sounds of a rocking chair and wind chimes.
12
Milne, “Iain Grandage and his wheatbelt,”, accessed February 21, 2015.
13
Ibid
14
Iain Grandage, “Wheatbelt,” accessed February 21, 2015, http://www.iaingrandage.com/work-
categories/choral/.
116
Example 7.5. Iain Grandage, Wheatbelt.
Source: Iain Grandage, Wheatbelt (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 2007).
&
&
&
&
V
?
&
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
S 1
S 2
A 1
A 2
T
B
Wh.
23
w
w
.
˙
Œ
land.
.
˙
Œ
land.
23
.
˙ Œ
land
. ˙
Œ
land
.
˙ Œ
23
w
*
*
*
15-25 secs
15-25 secs
15-25 secs
15-25 secs
15-25 secs
15-25 secs
15-25 secs
Piu Mosso
B
˙
Œ
U
œ
p
œ
From the
˙
Œ
U
œ
p
œ
From the
w
U
∏
Ah
w
U
∏
Ah
w
U
∏
Ah
w
U
∏
Ah
* Altos/Tenors/Basses : breathe independently. Try to create a sense of vast distances. A small subgroup can improvise
cicada ("s-s-s-s") and wind noises within the texture of the chord. Use a guiro scraped very slowly to imitate a rocking
chair sound Allow wind chimes to gently tinkle in the breeze. Very occasionally a bird whistle. Even less frequently a little shaker egg.
w
U B Whirlie : dim to nothing during 2nd time thru
œ
œ
œ
‰
œ .
œ
œ
wick er chair on the ve
œ
œ
œ
‰
œ .
œ
œ
wick er chair on the ve
w
w
w
w
w
œ
œ
.
˙
ran dah
œ
œ
.
˙
ran dah
w
w
w
w
w
5-10 secs
5-10 secs
5-10 secs
5-10 secs
5-10 secs
5-10 secs
5-10 secs
Sing x 3
Ó
U
Œ
œ œ
From the
Ó
U
Œ
œ œ
From the
w
U
w
U
w
U
w
U
w
U
C
œ
cresc
œ
œ
‰
œ .
œ
œ
wick er chair on the ve
œ
cresc
œ
œ
‰
œ .
œ
œ
wick er chair on the ve
˙
. œ
‰
(Ah)
˙
. œ
‰
(Ah)
˙
. œ
‰
(Ah)
˙
.
œ
‰
(Ah)
∑
- - - - -
- - - - -
&
&
&
&
V
?
&
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
S 1
S 2
A 1
A 2
T
B
Wh.
29
œ
œ œ ‰ œ
P
œ
. œ
œ
ran dah lift your eyes a
œ
œ œ
‰
œ
P
œ
. œ
œ
ran dah lift your eyes a
˙
œ
‰
.
œ
Ah a
˙
œ
‰
.
œ
Ah a
29
˙
œ
‰
. œ
Ah a
˙
œ
‰
.
œ
Ah a
29
∑
˙ œ
‰ œ
F
bove a
˙
œ
‰ œ
F
bove a
. ˙
Œ
bove
. ˙
Œ
bove
˙
œ
Œ
bove
˙
œ
Œ
bove
∑
.
œ
‰ œ
f
œ
. œ
œ
bove lift your eyes a
.
œ ‰
œ
f
œ
. œ
œ
bove lift your eyes a
. ˙
F
‰
.
œ
bove a
. ˙
F
‰
.
œ
bove a
˙
F
œ
‰
.
œ
bove a
˙
F
œ
‰
.
œ
bove a
∑
.
˙
œ
bove the
.
˙
œ
bove the
. ˙
œ
bove
. ˙
œ
bove
w
bove
œ
œ
œ
œ
bove
∑
3
œ
œ œ ‰ œ
ä
P
J
œ
bal u strade, see how
3
œ
œ œ
‰
œ
â
P
j
œ
bal u strade, see how
˙
œ
Œ
˙
œ
Œ
.
˙ Œ
˙
œ Œ
∑
- - - - - -
- - - - - -
- -
- -
- -
- -
wheatbelt Score - p.3
117
Harmonically, Grandage implements the flattened second degree, creating an
interval that Henry Tate, in 1926, referred to as the call of the butcherbird, and a possible
basis for a characteristically Australian scale (see Example 7.6).
15
Example 7.6. Iain Grandage, Wheatbelt, use of flattened second degree.
Grandage returns to the landscape noises towards the end of the work and the
work ends in a similar fashion to which it began with the utilization of the lowered
second scale degree and the open fifths (see Example 7.7).
15
Skinner, Peter Sculthorpe: the making of an Australian Composer, 54.
&
&
&
&
V
?
&
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
S 1
S 2
A 1
A 2
T
B
Wh.
A
8
∑
œ
-
p
˙ œ
‰
This land.
œ
-
p
˙ œ
‰
This land.
œ N
-
p
˙ œ
‰
This land.
8
œ
-
p
˙ œ
‰
This land.
œ
-
p
˙ œ
‰
This land.
8
w
w
∑
œ
-
F
˙ œ
‰
This land.
œ
-
F
˙ œ
‰
This land.
œ N
-
F
˙ œ
‰
This land.
œ
-
F
˙ œ
‰
This land.
œ
-
F
˙ œ
‰
This land.
w
w
œ N
f
˙ œ ‰
This land
œ
f
˙ œ ‰
This land
œ
f
˙ œ
‰
This land
œ
f
˙ œ
‰
This land
œ
f
˙ œ ‰
This land
œ
f
˙ œ
‰
This land
w
w
œ
˙
œ
This land won't
œ
˙
œ
This land won't
œ ˙ œ
This land won't
œ ˙ œ
This land won't
œ
˙
œ
This land won't
œ œ
œ œ
This land won't
w
w
w
ƒ
cry,
w
ƒ
cry,
œ
ƒ
˙
œ
cry,
˙
ƒ
˙
cry,
w
ƒ
cry,
w
ƒ
cry,
w
w
œ
˙
œ ‰
œ
˙
œ ‰
˙
œ œ
‰
.
˙ œ
‰
.
˙ œ
‰
.
˙ œ
‰
w
w
˙
f
˙
cry,
w
f
cry,
œ
f
˙
œ
cry,
w
f
cry,
˙
f
œ
œ
cry,
w
f
cry,
w
w
&
&
&
&
V
?
&
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
S 1
S 2
A 1
A 2
T
B
Wh.
15
œ
˙ œ
‰
œ
˙
œ ‰
˙
œ œ
‰
.
˙ œ
‰
15
˙
œ œ
‰
.
˙ œ ‰
15
w
w
œ
F
˙
œ
This land won't
œ
F
˙
œ
This land won't
œ
F
˙ œ
This land won't
œ
F
œ
œ œ
This land won't
œ
F
˙
œ
This land won't
œ
F
˙ œ
This land won't
w
w
.
˙ œ
‰
cry
.
˙ œ
‰
cry
œ
œ
œ
œ
‰
cry
.
˙ œ
‰
cry
œ
˙
œ
‰
cry
. ˙ œ
‰
cry
w
w
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
. ˙ œ
‰
when
.
˙ œ
‰
when
.
˙
unison
œ
‰
when
.
˙
unison
œ
‰
when
.
˙ œ ‰
when
.
œ
‰
˙
when when
w
w
w
you
w
you
w #
you
w #
you
w
you
.
œ
‰
˙
you
w
a niente
w
w
p
leave.
w
p
leave.
Ó
˙
p
This
Ó
˙
p
This
Ó ˙
p
This
Ó
divisi
˙
p
This
Ó ˙
w
w
w
w
land.
w
land.
w
land.
w
land.
w
w
w
w
Ó
˙
π
This
Ó
˙
π
This
Ó ˙
π
This
Ó
˙
π
This
Ó ˙
w
wheatbelt Score - p.2
118
Example 7.7. Iain Grandage, Wheatbelt, ending.
&
&
&
&
V
?
&
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
S 1
S 2
A 1
A 2
T
B
Wh.
167
œ N
˙ œ
‰
This land
œ ˙ œ ‰
This land
œ œ
œ œ
‰
This land
œ œ
œ œ
‰
This land
167
œ ˙ œ
‰
This land
œ ˙ œ
‰
This land
167
∑
œ N
˙
œ
This land won't
œ ˙ œ
This land won't
œ ˙
œ
This land won't
œ ˙
œ
This land won't
œ ˙
œ
This land won't
œ œ
œ œ
This land won't
∑
With some Freedom of Tempo (Piu)
w
ƒ
cry,
œ
ƒ
˙
œ
cry,
˙
ƒ
˙
cry,
˙
ƒ
˙
cry,
w
ƒ
cry,
w
ƒ
cry,
∑
œ
˙
œ
‰
˙
œ œ‰
.
˙ œ
‰
.
˙ œ
‰
. ˙ œ
‰
. ˙ œ
‰
∑
w
f
cry,
œ
f
˙
œ
cry,
w
f
cry,
w
f
cry,
˙
f
œ
œ
cry,
w
f
cry,
∑
œ
˙
œ
‰
˙
œ œ‰
.
˙ œ
‰
.
˙ œ
‰
.
˙ œ‰
. ˙ œ
‰
∑
œ
F
˙
œ
This land won't
œ
F
˙ œ
This land won't
œ
F
œ
œ œ
This land won't
œ
F
œ
œ œ
This land won't
œ
F
˙
œ
This land won't
œ
F
˙ œ
This land won't
∑
&
&
&
&
V
?
&
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
b
S 1
S 2
A 1
A 2
T
B
Wh.
Poco a poco rall
174
. ˙ œ
‰
cry
œ
œ
œ
œ
‰
cry
. ˙ œ
‰
cry
. ˙ œ
‰
cry
174
œ
˙
œ
‰
cry
.
˙ œ
‰
cry
174
∑
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
.
˙ œ
‰
when
.
˙ œ
‰
when
. ˙ œ
‰
when
. ˙ œ
‰
when
. ˙ œ
‰
when
. œ
‰
˙
when when
∑
lowest harmonic only (occasional 2nd harmonic (5th) is OK)
C Harmonic Whirlie
w
you
w
you
w
you
w
you
w
you
. œ
‰
˙
you
Ó
.
œ
π
w
p
leave.
w
p
leave.
Ó
˙
p
This
Ó
˙
p
This
Ó
˙
p
This
Ó
˙
p divisi
This
Ó
˙
w
w
w
w b
land.
w b
land.
w
land.
w
land.
w
w
w
w
∑
∑
∑
∑
w
PERTH
May 2007
w
w
w
π
This
w
π
This
w
π
This
w
π
This
w
w
w
U
a niente
w
U a niente
w
U a niente
land.
w
U a niente
land.
w
U a niente
land
w
U a niente
land
w
w
U
wheatbelt Score - p.15
119
Chapter 8
The Choral Music of Paul Stanhope
Paul Stanhope (b. 1969) is recognized both in Australia and abroad as one of
Australia’s leading composers of the twenty-first century. His works have been
performed in the United Kingdom, Europe, Japan, and North and South America.
Stanhope has studied composition with Andrew Ford (b. 1957), Andrew Schultz (b.
1960), and Peter Sculthorpe. At a young age Stanhope won the Charles Mackerras
Scholarship, a scholarship awarded to an exceptional emerging conductor, which enabled
him to study in London at the Guildhall School of Music. In 2004 he was awarded first
place in the Toru Takemitsu Composition Prize and in 2011 he received two APRA
(Australasian Performing Rights Association)/Australian Music Centre Awards for
Instrumental Work of the Year and Vocal/Choral Piece of the Year.
16
Known both as a
composer and a conductor, Stanhope was the conductor of the Sydney Chamber Choir
from 2005 until 2015.
Three Geography Songs (1997) came from a larger work of five compositions for
unaccompanied mixed voices known as Geography Songs. The text was written by
Australian poet, Michael Dransfield (1948 – 1973), who died at the young age of twenty-
four. The three poems used in the Three Geography Songs: “Explorer’s Journal,”
“Geography III,” and “Geography VI,” all deal with the beauty of Australia’s natural
environment. The poems are reflective in nature and describe a world away from reality,
enveloped by the simple beauty of nature. Stanhope uses the vivid imagery of
16
Sydney Conservatorium of Music, “Dr. Paul Stanhope,” accessed September 5, 2015,
http://music.sydney.edu.au/people/dr-paul-stanhope.
120
Dransfield’s poetry to text-paint. This can be seen in “Explorer’s Journal” where he
features the word “Stars” in an explosion of rhythmic vitality (see Example 8.1).
Example 8.1. Paul Stanhope, “Explorer’s Journal” from Three Geography Songs
Source: Paul Stanhope, Three Geography Songs (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 1997).
!
&
&
&
&
V
?
S
S2.
A
A2
T
B
64
œ
ƒ
tutti:
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
stars
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ b œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
&
&
&
&
V
?
S
S2.
A
A2
T
B
67
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
stars
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ b œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
h =
stars stars stars stars stars star
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars star
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars star
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars star
3
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
stars stars stars stars stars star
3
œ b œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars star
9
121
Example 8.1. Paul Stanhope, “Explorer’s Journal” from Three Geography Songs,
continued.
In “Geography III” Stanhope has the sopranos begin singing one at a time while
singing “chapels of pure vision.” He indicates that the singers should turn around 180
degrees, creating an illusion of the acoustic one might encounter in a cathedral (see
Example 8.2).
!
&
&
&
&
V
?
S
S2.
A
A2
T
B
64
œ
ƒ
tutti:
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
stars
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ b œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
&
&
&
&
V
?
S
S2.
A
A2
T
B
67
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
stars
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ b œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars stars stars stars
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
h =
stars stars stars stars stars star
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars star
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars star
3
œ œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars star
3
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
stars stars stars stars stars star
3
œ b œ œ
3
œ œ œ
stars stars stars stars stars star
9
122
Example 8.2. Paul Stanhope, “Geography III” from Three Geography Songs, opening.
In “Geography VI,” Stanhope employs whispers and aleatoric entrances to give
the impression of the wind (See Example 8.3).
&
&
&
&
V
?
Sop Solo 1
Sop Solo 2
Soprano
Alto
Tenor
Bass
q=60-66
X
X
X
X
X
X
1
œ b
U
œ
U
p
mm
Œ
U
œ
U p
mm
˙ b
U
p
mm
œ
Freely and expressive
p
j
œ b œ œ
j
¿
in the fo - re - st
w
w
w
‰
j
œœ
œ œ
œ œ
œ œ
œ . ˙
Œ
œ
œ
in un - ex-plored val-leys of the sky are
w
w
w
&
&
&
&
V
?
S Solo 1
S Solo 2
S
A
T
B
4
œ
>
P
. œ œ œ
œ
>
. œ
œ b
-
j
œw
U
cha - pels of pure vi - - - sio - n
w
p
ah
Ó
œ p
*
. œ œ œ
œ
>
. œ
œ b
-
j
œ . œ
U
cha - pels of pure vi - - sio - n
.
˙
w b
mm
w
w
* The remaining soprani enter one by one. They should, preferably, turn around
180° until bar 6.
Geography III Paul Stanhope Text by Michael Dransfield
123
Example 8.3. Paul Stanhope, “Geography VI” from Three Geography Songs.
Stanhope wrote Rainchant (2001) soon after he returned from living in the United
Kingdom for a period of seven months. It is scored for treble choir and chamber
orchestra, including strings, percussion, and optional organ. After the constant drizzle he
encountered in London, Stanhope returned to Australia where he witnessed one of
Sydney’s spectacular thunderstorms. He was so enamored with the display of natural
wonder that he composed Rainchant, which was commissioned by Karen Carey and the
Department of Music at MLC School in Burwood.
17
Stanhope combined two sets of text
in this work. The first set consists of various haiku by American poet Richard Wright
17
Paul Stanhope, Rainchant (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 2001).
&
&
&
V
?
?
4
2
4
2
4
2
4
2
4
2
4
2
S
S2
A
T
B
B solo
X
X
X
X
X
X
2
35
œ #
p
1
œ #
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1.
Œ
mm
j
¿ C
whisper
freely, not together
P
. ¿
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
B
Œ
thewind
3
œ
p
œ
œ
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1.
P
mm
j
¿ C
whisper
freely, not together
P
. ¿
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
B
Œ
the wind
and the wind in trees
among hills
C
speech rhythms: freely, not together
whisper
10 - 12"
4
F
and the wind in trees among hills
B
5
3
‰
œ œ œ œ
5
œ
-
œ œ
J
œ
ß
ß
ß
ß
ß
ß
¿
,
halts
¿
halts
¿
halts
¿
halts
¿
halts
¿
P
halts
28
1. Free, lazy alternation between notes (in any order). Breathe when necessary.
124
(1908 – 1960). He chose haiku that he felt reflected Sydney as a city on a harbor with
red-roofed houses, a big blue sky, and distant craggy mountains. The second set of text
consists of a series of words for “rain” or “rainstorm” from various Aboriginal languages.
The combination of these texts allow for the layering of history. Stanhope includes a
chant, sung on “ah,” which “is symbolically calling down rain to quench drought and to
revitalize and replenish the earth. It also stands for renewal and replenishment on a
personal level.”
18
I have not your dreaming (2005) is written for unaccompanied treble choir and is
based on the poetry of Margaret Glendinning. The poem I hear the songs is a tribute to
Oodgeroo Noonuccal
19
(1920 – 1993), an Aboriginal leader, advocate, public speaker,
and inspirational teacher to Glendinning. Stanhope “attempted to portray something of a
sense of yearning felt by the poet in the slow outer sections of the piece, whilst the
exuberant dance-like music of the middle underlines the more energized character of
birds in flight and a ‘quicksilver dance of stars’”
20
(See Example 8.4).
18
Paul Stanhope, Rainchant (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 2001).
19
Oodgeroo Noonuccal was known as Kath Walker until 1988 when she adopted the Noonuccal tribal
name Oodgeroo, meaning paperbark.
20
Australian Music Centre, “I have not your dreaming,” accessed February 21, 2015,
http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/workversion/stanhope-paul-i-have-not-your-dreaming/15579.
125
Example 8.4. Paul Stanhope, I have not your dreaming.
Source: Paul Stanhope, I have not your dreaming (Sydney: Australian Music Centre, 2005).
In 2010, Stanhope was asked to write a work that would feature the Gondwana
choirs, in particular the National Indigenous Choir. While listening to the radio one day
he stumbled across a story about a play titled Jandamarra and was captivated by the
story.
21
The play was used as the basis for a cantata that was eventually performed in
21
Paul Stanhope, “Jandamarra: Sing for the Country,” August 3, 2015, About Music public lecture series,
The University of Sydney, http://music.sydney.edu.au/research/about-music-lectures/
&
&
&
&
53
œ
œ #
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
e try sweet po e try
Œ
œ
œ
œ
œ #
œ
sweet po e try
œ
œ
œ
j
œ #
œ
j
œ
sweet po e try sweet
œ
œ
œ
j
œ #
. œ
sweet po e try sweet
Œ
œ b
f
œ b
œ b
œ
œ b
quick sil ver dance
Œ
œ b
f
œ b
œ b
œ
œ b
quick sil ver dance
œ b
f
œ b
œ
œ b œ
Œ
quick sil ver
œ b
f
œœ œ
Œ
quick sil ver
j
œ
œ b
J
œ b œ
œ b
of stars at
j
œ
œ b
J
œ b œ
œ b
of stars at
œ b
>
P
œ œ œ
>
œ œ œ
>
quick sil ver quick sil ver dance
œ b
>
P
œ œ œ
>
œ œ œ
>
quick sil ver quick sil ver dance
--- ----
--- ----
--- --
-- - -
&
&
&
&
56
.
œ
J
œ b ˙
night
Œ
œ b
œ b
œ b
œ
œ b
quick sil ver dance
. œ b
>
J
œ b
>
œ œ
>
quick sil ver
.
œ b
>
j
œ
>
œ
œ
>
quick sil ver
Œ
œ
>
J
œ
. œ b
night
œ
œ b
>
J
œ
.
œ b
night
œ b
>
œ
>
f
J
œ
. œ b
dance, night
œ b
>
. ˙
>
f
dance, night
J
œ b‰
œ b
œ
œ b
œ
œ b
quick sil ver dance
j
œ
‰Œ Œ
œ b
quick
j
œ
‰Œ Ó
j
œ b
‰Œ Ó
j
œ
œ b
J
œ b œ
œ b
of stars at
œ b
œ b
œ
œ b
j
œ
œ b
J
œ b
sil ver dance of stars
Œ
œ b
œ b
œ b
œ
œ b
quick sil ver dance
Ó Œ
œ b
quick
-- -
--
-
--
I have not your Dreaming
126
2014 by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO), dancers of the Yilimbirri Ensemble,
Gondwana National Indigenous Choir, Gondwana Chorale, and the Sydney Children’s
Choir. The work is scored for baritone solo, mixed chorus, orchestra (2.2.3.2 / 4.3.3.1 /
percussion, harp, keyboard, strings), and an Indigenous ensemble of singers, dancers, and
actors. The libretto is by Steve Hawke (b. 1959) in collaboration with the Bunuba People.
The libretto draws on material and ideas that existed in the play and Hawke worked both
with Stanhope as well as the Bunuba people throughout the process. Much of the
collaboration with the Bunuba people took place in workshops and informal sessions in
which Stanhope was also involved.
22
Jandamarra: Sing for the Country is essentially a cantata, however this work
incorporates dramatic elements including narration and spoken lines as well as
Indigenous singing and dancing. Traditional music from the Kimberley is used with
permission from the custodians of the music, primarily the Andrews family.
23
Three
members of the Bunuba community acted as consultants throughout the process. Patsy
Bedford, Mona Oscar, and June Oscar represented the community, ensuring that the work
met with approval from the community, and consulted on the use of the Bunuba
language.
24
Stanhope traveled to the Kimberley on four occasions through the
compositional process in order to meet with the community, gain insight and information
on the culture, and to share with the community members what was being written for
their approval.
22
Steve Hawke, e-mail message to author, December 1, 2015.
23
Additional information can be found at http://www.jandamarra.com.au/singForTheCountry.html#home
24
Paul Stanhope, “Jandamarra: Sing for the Country,” August 3, 2015, About Music public lecture series,
The University of Sydney, http://music.sydney.edu.au/research/about-music-lectures/
127
Three Indigenous music excerpts were chosen: the Lirrga Wangga, a didjeridu
accompanied song, the Yilimbirri Junba, a dance and song story about two rainbow
serpents, or Ungguds, and the Dirrari Lament which was performed by Patsy Bedford,
one of two current custodians of this song.
25
The Dirrari Lament is a Bunuba language
song about a mother black cockatoo mourning the death of her offspring. There is no
exact translation.
26
The Lirrga Wangga, performed by Jandamarra and the Yilimbirri
ensemble, is not notated in the score (see Example 8.5).
Example 8.5. Paul Stanhope, Jandamarra: Sing for the Country, Lirrga Wangga song and
dance.
Source: Paul Stanhope, Jandamarra: Sing for the Country, (Paul Stanhope, Steve Hawke and Bunuba
Cultural Enterprises, 2014).
The Yilimbirri Junba is also indicated in the score without notation, however the
Dirrari Lament, is notated (see Example 8.6). The melody is first sung by the character,
Jini, played by Bedford, and then Stanhope takes this simple melody and develops it
throughout the movement, where it is performed first by the children’s chorus, and then
by the larger chorus with additional thematic material.
25
Paul Stanhope, “Jandamarra: Sing for the Country,” August 3, 2015, About Music public lecture series,
The University of Sydney, http://music.sydney.edu.au/research/about-music-lectures/
26
Paul Stanhope, Jandamarra: Sing for the Country, (Paul Stanhope, Steve Hawke and Bunuba Cultural
Enterprises, 2014).
&
&
&
&
&
&
S
S
A
A
Synth.
26
. ˙
rri
3
œ b œ œ
œ
œ
bi li rri nga rri
3
œ œ œ œ œ
bi li rri nga rri
3
œ b œ œ œ œ
bi li rri nga rri
26
.
.
˙
˙
. ˙
poco rit.
Œ
œ
œ
oo
˙
œ
oo
. ˙
oo
. ˙
oo
. ˙
. ˙
P
P
P
P
Poco Meno Mosso
. œ n
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
œ
. œ
œ ˙
. ˙
. ˙
. ˙
. ˙
. ˙
œ
˙
. ˙
. ˙
. ˙
. ˙
dim.
dim.
dim.
dim.
- - - -
- - -
- - - -
&
&
&
&
&
&
?
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
S
S
A
A
Didj.
Synth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
30
œ œ
œ
oo
œ œ
œ
oo
. ˙
. ˙
oo
30
. ˙
!
30
!
p
p
p
p
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
w
w
!
!
]
[
[
]
each in own time
each in own time
w
w
w
!
!
4"
w
w
(oo)
w
(oo)
w
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
1
finish pattern upon
conductor's cue
finish pattern upon
conductor's cue
finish pattern upon
conductor's cue
w
U
w
U
w
U
w
U
!
!
w
Cue Didjeridu
?
Didj.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
35
w
LIRRGA WANGGA SONG & DANCE
Jandamarra, preset in place,
dances the Lirrga Wangga,
sung by Yilimbirri ensemble
3 1. Prelude
ª
ª
128
Example 8.6. Paul Stanhope, Jandamarra: Sing for the Country, Dirrari Lament.
This dramatic work tells the story of the young Bunuba warrior and resistance
hero, Jandamarra. The story is set in the central Kimberley region and describes a time of
conflict during which white settlers invaded the traditional land. The story continues thus:
Jandamarra is a flawed hero: having been incredibly effective as a tracker for a
local law officer, rounding up his own people and sending them to jail. The elders
of his tribe allow themselves to be captured and sing Jandamarra back home.
Jandamarra is faced with an awful choice but liberates his people by shooting
Richardson, the policeman. This begins a time of resistance fighting which allows
his people to live in safety. Ultimately, he pays for his heroism and like a grand
Greek tragedy, pays with his own life, having been hunted down by another
tracker.
27
27
Australian Music Centre, “Jandamarra: Sing for the Country,” accessed February 21, 2015,
http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/workversion/stanhope-paul-jandamarra-sing-for-the-
country/29438.
V
V
B
?
?
4
3
4
3
4
3
4
3
4
3
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
JINI
MARY
Viola
Cello
Double Bass
Ó
U 3
‰ ‰
j
œ
Di
Ó
U
Œ
!
U
. ˙
U
.
.
˙
˙
U
Jini
Reflective; Flowing {q = c 66-72}
!
!
ord.
ord.
œ ˙
rra ri
œ ˙
rra ri
. ˙
!
. ˙
.
.
˙
˙
[2nd time only] Mary
!
2nd time only
3
œ
œ œ ˙
wa la wa ray
3
œ
œ œ ˙
wa la wa ray
. ˙
!
. ˙
.
.
˙
˙
3
j
œ
œ ˙
win yi lay
3
j
œ
œ ˙
win yi lay
. ˙
!
. ˙
.
.
˙
˙
3
œ #
œ œ œ
3
œ
j
œ
wa la wa ray min
3
œ #
œ œ œ
3
œ
j
œ
wa la wa ray min
. ˙
!
. ˙
.
.
˙
˙
œ ˙
3
œ
j
œ
ya rri Di
Ó.
3
Œ
j
œ
Di
!
w
w
w
1.
- -
-
- - -
- - -
- -
- -
- - -
- -
- - -
-
&
V
V
&
B
?
?
4
3
4
3
4
3
4
3
4
3
4
3
4
3
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
A
JINI
MARY
Vln. II
Vla.
Vc.
D.B.
7
2
Ó Œ
3
Œ
j
œ
Di
œ ˙
3
œ
‰
ya ri
œ ˙
3
œ
‰
ya ri
!
w
˙
œ
œ
˙
˙
œ
œ
sotto voce
2.
2.
P
œ ˙
rra ri
!
!
!
. ˙
-
. ˙
-
. ˙
altos from all choirs able to sing this low part -
not to be sung by tenors or basses
3
œ
œ œ ˙
wa la wa ray
!
!
!
. ˙
. ˙
. ˙
3
j
œ
œ ˙
win yi lay
!
!
!
. ˙
. ˙
. ˙
3
œ #
œ œ œ
3
œ
j
œ
wa la wa ray min
!
!
!
˙ œ
˙ œ
˙ œ
pizz.
œ . ˙
ya rri
!
!
Ó Œ
œ
œ
œ #
˙
œ
œ
3
œ
œ
œ #
w
œ
Œ Ó
p
div.
-
-
- - - - - - - - - - -
8. DIRRARI LAMENT
Score
This Bunuba language song is about a mother black cockatoo mourning the death of her offspring. There is no exact translation.
NB final "i" vowel after a consonant becomes closer to a schwa vowel. The exception is "Muwayi" which is pronounced "Moo-why"
ª
ª
JANDAMARRA - SING FOR THE COUNTRY
129
Chapter 9
The Choral Music of Paul Jarman, Dan Walker, and Joseph Twist
Paul Jarman
The new century has produced an abundance of young choral composers, many
who have continued the tradition of writing music that both captures the essence of the
Australian landscape and honors the traditions of the Indigenous people. Paul Jarman (b.
1971) has used his compositions to celebrate and commemorate numerous Australian
stories and events, both historical and more recent. He has always been interested in
histories and stories of discovery, challenge, innovation, transformation, and adaptation.
In his words, “choirs are the greatest story tellers.”
1
Writing for choir allows Jarman to
combine his passion for lyrics, and his love of story telling.
2
In 2005, Jarman was
involved in a program called Yennibu, which gathered together 600 students in Sydney to
learn about local Indigenous tales and traditions from Aboriginal academics. The students
then composed original music based on these Indigenous stories.
3
The following year, Jarman composed Pemulwuy, a work inspired by Eric
Willmot’s (b. 1936) book of the same title, which tells the story of Australia’s first
freedom fighter. The work was commissioned by the Woden Valley Youth Choir,
directed by Alpha Gregory (b. 1946) and was originally set for treble voices. It has since
been arranged for both mixed chorus and men’s chorus. Pemulwuy was born sometime
around 1756 and came from the area near Sydney where Homebush Bay is now situated.
1
Paul Jarman, e-mail message to author, November 24, 2015.
2
Ibid.
3
Ibid.
130
He was a part of the Bidjigal Clan of the Eora nation. Pemulwuy, whose name means
‘man on earth’ was known as the Rainbow Warrior and had a crow as his totem. From
1790 until his death in 1802, he led the Eora people in a revolt against British invasion.
4
The story of Pemulwuy is seldom found in history books, partly due to modern
Australia’s disregard for the plight of the Aboriginal people, and possibly due to the
embarrassment of both the Governor and military officers of the time, whose failed
attempts to capture him are numerous.
5
When Jarman first heard of Pemulwuy’s story
through an Aboriginal artist and activist friend, he saw this as an opportunity to celebrate
a great Australian and to educate others on a part of history that was ignored by
Australia’s education system.
6
Jarman begins the work with text from the Bidjigal language describing the crow
and the full moon rising. “Woyan Camya” means the crow is coming, and “Yanada”
means moon. This call sits above a driving piano accompaniment that creates the feeling
of urgency (see Example 9.1). According to Jarman, the introduction symbolizes the
bringing together of the Aboriginal people under the leadership of Pemulwuy, and the
opening “Woy yan Camya,” followed by “Yana da rising,” represents a “call to arms.”
7
Jarman describes this work as being like a film score or a dance work. He says,
The first half of the piece is a celebration of Pemulwuy and a retelling of some
histories, including the burning of settler farms, fights against the Rum Corp and
4
Paul Jarman, “Known Unto God and Pemulwuy,” Resonate Magazine (December 2009), accessed
February 21, 2015, http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/article/paul-jarman-s-em-known-unto-god-
em-and-em-pemulwuy-em.
5
Ibid.
6
Paul Jarman, e-mail message to author, November 24, 2015.
7
Ibid.
131
the unification of Aboriginal clans. The second half of the piece is more political.
I wrote this as a beacon of awareness and reconciliation, for now and for the
future, and looked at the history through the eyes of an Aboriginal Australian.
8
This can be heard in the text, “They have come to take this land, something we
will never understand. Fighting for it seems so wrong, we don’t own the land, we just
belong.”
9
Example 9.1. Paul Jarman, Pemulwuy, opening.
8
Paul Jarman, “Known Unto God and Pemulwuy,” Resonate Magazine (December 2009), accessed
February 21, 2015, http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/article/paul-jarman-s-em-known-unto-god-
em-and-em-pemulwuy-em.
9
Paul Jarman, “Pemulwuy,” self published score, 2005.
132
Example 9.1. Paul Jarman, Pemulwuy, continued.
Source: Paul Jarman, Pemulwuy (Self published, 2005).
Dan Walker
Dan Walker (b. 1978) is another emerging Australian composer who has been
influenced by the Australian landscape and the connection to the Aboriginal people. Sky
Song (1999) was commissioned by the Sydney Children’s Choir and was first performed
at the International Symposium of Choral Music in Rotterdam. Walker wished to capture
the spirit of Australia, “the ceremonial nature of the Australian Aborigine, and the close
affinity of the aborigine with the land.”
10
He chose to use Aboriginal words that
described the sky, thunder, and song while attempting to musically depict the sounds of
the Australian outback (see Example 9.2).
10
Dan Walker, Sky Song (Toowong: Morton Music Publications, 1999).
133
Example 9.2. Dan Walker, Sky Song, opening.
Source: Dan Walker, Sky Song (Toowong: Morton Music Publications, 1999).
134
The Benedictine monastery at New Nocia, situated on the west coast of Australia
approximately eighty miles north of Perth, was the inspiration for Laudate for another
place, another time (2006). The monastery is constructed with Spanish-styled
architecture but sits in the extremely dry Australian bush. In this work for treble voices
with piano accompaniment, Walker combines the tolling of the monastery bells with the
calling of the native birds to represent the “spirituality of both the Benedictine tradition
and the spirit of the Australian landscape (see Example 9.3).”
11
Example 9.3. Dan Walker, Laudate for Another Place, Another Time.
11
Australian Music Centre, “Laudate for another place, another time,” accessed March 20, 2015,
http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/workversion/walker-dan-laudate-for-another-place-another-
time/29312.
place sus pen - ded - in time, Feel the pull of the
24
lose your place sus pen - ded - in time, Feel the pull
o cean - flow that car ried - them so far from home. Lau
f
-
27
of the o cean - flow that car ried - them so far from home.
da te - Do mi - num - in san ctis - E jus, -
30
Lau
f
da - te - Do mi - num - in san ctis - E -
in
f
san ctis - E jus, -
f
sim.
div. (sop 1)
ADE010
facebook.com/musicofdanwalker
3
135
Example 9.3. Dan Walker, Laudate for Another Place, Another Time, continued.
Source: Dan Walker, Laudate for Another Place, Another Time (Australian Music Centre, 2006).
Walker has written many choral works for treble voices and much of his music is
accessible to both school choirs and amateur community choirs. His Nyungar Alleluia
(2008) for treble choir and piano was written for the All Saints’ College Junior Voices
and describes the natural beauty and spirituality of the Australian landscape (see example
9.4). The Nyungar people come from South West Western Australia.
place sus pen - ded - in time, Feel the pull of the
24
lose your place sus pen - ded - in time, Feel the pull
o cean - flow that car ried - them so far from home. Lau
f
-
27
of the o cean - flow that car ried - them so far from home.
da te - Do mi - num - in san ctis - E jus, -
30
Lau
f
da - te - Do mi - num - in san ctis - E -
in
f
san ctis - E jus, -
f
sim.
div. (sop 1)
ADE010
facebook.com/musicofdanwalker
3
136
Example 9.4. Dan Walker, Nyungar Alleluia.
Source: Dan Walker, Nyungar Alleluia (Australian Music Centre, 2008).
80
S.
A.
Pno.
and in
the
rain,
mf
Here
our
and in
the
rain,
mf
Here
our
mf
84
S.
A.
Pno.
life
lines
- run
deep
a cross
the
land
A
fire
burns
with
life
lines
- run
deep
a cross
the
land
A
fire
burns
with
88
S.
A.
Pno.
in
us
like a bright
ce les
- tial
- flame.
Al
f
le
- lu -
ia! -
in
us
like a bright
ce les
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Al
f
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- lu -
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f
6
137
Joseph Twist
Joseph Twist (b. 1982) is one of Australia’s most versatile young composers. He
grew up in Queensland and studied composition with several of Australia’s leading
composers and teachers including Nigel Butterly (b. 1935), Philip Bracanin (b. 1942),
Richard Mills (b. 1949), and Graeme Koehne (b. 1956). Twist’s output includes choral
music, opera, orchestral music, jazz, musical theater, and works for film and television.
He does not believe in a generalized ‘Australian sound’ but like many other Australian
composers, has included elements of the Australian outback in several of his choral
works. Rain Dream (2006) was written for Gondwana Voices and is for treble voices and
piano. It tells the story of a child living in the Australian bush who has never seen rain.
The child dreams of a thunderstorm and the work becomes like a rain dance with the
singers chanting “Wandjina,” who is an Aboriginal rain spirit.
12
Twist begins the work
with an open fifth in the piano accompaniment, representing the dry, desolate Australian
outback. He then incorporates cluster chords in both the vocal parts and the piano
accompaniment to symbolize the gathering of storm clouds.
13
As illustrated in Example
9.5, word painting is used on the words “clash” and “sear,” with the use of seconds, and
“bright,” and “far above,” where the two-part writing expands to three parts.
14
12
Joseph Twist, Folio of Compositions with Critical Commentary: An exploration of musical influences
and composing techniques (PhD thesis, University of Queensland, 2009), 94.
13
Ibid.
14
Ibid.
138
Example 9.5. Joseph Twist, Rain Dream.
Source: Joseph Twist, Rain Dream (Toowong: Morton Music Publications, 2006).
139
Originally written for an advanced high school choir, On The Night Train (2006)
for unaccompanied mixed voices sets the poetry of well-known Australian poet, Henry
Lawson (1867 – 1922). The work depicts a fast moving train traveling through the remote
Australian outback. In the opening and closing sections of the work, Twist uses long,
sustained pitches in the lower voice parts, to represent the emptiness of the outback (see
Example 9.6).
15
The melody is simple and folk-like, and the singers use nonsense
syllables and whispered vocal effects to create the sound of the moving train.
Example 9.6. Joseph Twist, On the Night Train, opening.
15
Joseph Twist, On The Night Train (Toowong: Morton Music Publications, 2009).
140
Example 9.6. Joseph Twist, On the Night Train, continued.
Source: Joseph Twist, On the Night Train (Toowong: Morton Music Publications, 2006).
How Shall We Sing in a Strange Land? (2011), was commissioned by the
Australia Council for the Arts for the National Youth Choir of Australia. This work uses
a combination of sacred and secular texts and reflects the cultural diversity and the varied
history of modern Australia. The sacred text comes from Psalm 137 but is not intended as
an expression of faith. The text, “How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?” is
used to explore the diversity and complexity of Australian history, particularly in terms of
141
the interaction and conflict between white Australia and the Indigenous population. Twist
combines the sacred text with a poem by Indigenous poet, Oodgeroo Noonuccal. The
poem, A Song of Hope, speaks of the disregard for Aboriginal culture in a modern
Australian society and a feeling of alienation felt by the Australian Aborigines, whose
traditional ways were pushed aside by the European settlers. Twist juxtaposed the two
texts in an attempt to promote reconciliation between the differing cultures, and optimism
that a future Australia might embrace this cultural diversity (see Example 9.7).
16
Example 9.7. Joseph Twist, How Shall We Sing in a Strange Land?
16
Joseph Twist, e-mail message to author, March 23, 2015.
°
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51
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142
Example 9.7. Joseph Twist, How Shall We Sing in a Strange Land?, continued.
Source: Joseph Twist, How Shall We Sing in a Strange Land? (Self-published, 2011).
Twist was able to utilize a variety of his musical influences in Lux Aeterna (2011)
for children’s choir, treble voices, mixed choir, percussion, piano, and handbells. As
Twist himself expresses in an overview of this work, this composition incorporates jazz
harmony, interesting vocal effects, and cluster chords in an attempt to describe the
intense Australian sunlight. Much of Twist’s childhood was spent immersed in the
overbearing warmth of a Queensland summer and in Lux Aeterna, he wished to
amalgamate the “Lux Aeterna” Gregorian chant and text with its description of perpetual
light (luceat eis), with the radiant and unrelenting intensity of the Queensland sunlight.
He also combined the Latin text with the inspirational words of Michael Leunig (b.
°
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B.
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143
1945), “which highlight the joy and fun of summertime with its glorious sunlight.”
17
The
work was written for the Gondwana National Choral School and was premiered by their
combined choirs.
17
Australian Music Centre, “Lux aeterna,” accessed March 20, 2015,
http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/workversion/twist-joseph-lux-aeterna/26019.
144
Chapter 10
Looking Forward
The beginning of the twenty-first century has brought with it great diversity in the
world of Australian choral music. In a modern world fraught with opportunity, young
composers are inundated with inspiration, and with the development of information
technology and social media, never before has it been easier to access the international
world of choral music. The end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-
first century saw a shift toward establishing a national identity within Australian music.
Many composers were inspired by the land and by the music and culture of the Australian
Aborigines. In addition to those mentioned in this paper, other works deserving mention
that follow this theme include Matthew Orlovich’s (b. 1970) Tides of Ocean, Harley
Mead’s Mother Earth, and Sherelle Eyles’ choral music for children’s choir including
Australian Destinations and Animal Songs.
While many Australian composers are still looking to their own natural
environment for inspiration, there are also many emerging composers whose music
cannot be easily identified as Australian. Daniel Brinsmead (b. 1988) is an example of a
young Australian composer who does not find his inspiration in the Australian landscape.
His international reputation is growing in North America and Europe, however his
musical language cannot be defined geographically.
While the future of Australian choral music is unknown, there is now a significant
collection of works that exemplify the characteristics that make Australia unique. While
145
each composer mentioned in this paper has their own personal and distinctive relationship
with their homeland, there is no doubt that this relationship is one that will last.
146
Appendix A
Published Scores, Unpublished Manuscripts, and Recordings of Australian Choral
Music with Strong Influences from the Aboriginal Culture and Australian
Landscape.
Ancient Cries. Stephen Leek. 9 minutes. 1996.
Ancient Forests Once Stood Here. Sarah Hopkins. 8 minutes. 2008.
Blue Australian Skies. Stephen Leek. 4 minutes. 2010.
Cambrewarra. Stephen Leek. 5 minutes. 2012.
Childers Shining. Sarah Hopkins. 35 minutes. Music for the Soul. 2003.
Childers Shining: One World. Sarah Hopkins. 40 minutes. Music for the Soul. 2005.
Child of Australia. Peter Sculthorpe. 17 minutes. Australian Music Centre, 1987.
Dawn Mantras. Ross Edwards. 5 minutes. Australian Music Centre, 1992.
Flower Songs. Ross Edwards. 11 minutes. Australian Music Centre, 1987.
Glasshouses. Stephen Leek. 15 minutes. 2000.
Great Southern Spirits. 20 minutes. Stephen Leek. 1995.
Honour the Earth. Sarah Hopkins. 4 – 8 minutes. Morton Music Publications and Music
for the Soul. 2000 (revised 2009).
How Shall We Sing in a Strange Land? Joseph Twist. 6 minutes. 2011.
Hush: On the death of a Bush Church. Iain Grandage. 8 minutes. Morton Music
Publications. 1998.
I have not your dreaming. Paul Stanhope. 6 minutes. Australian Music Centre. 2005.
Island Songs. 9 minutes. Stephen Leek. 1995.
147
Jandamarra: Sing for the Country. Paul Stanhope, Steve Hawke and Bunuba Cultural
Enterprises. 60 minutes. 2014.
Laudate for another place, another time. Dan Walker. 3 minutes. Australian Music
Centre. 2006.
Lullaby. Peter Sculthorpe. 8 minutes. Faber Music. 2003.
Lux Aeterna. Joseph Twist. 10 minutes. Australian Music Centre. 2011.
Missa Alchera: Mass of the Dreaming. Ross Edwards. 17 minutes. Australian Music
Centre. 2009.
Mountain Chant: Three Sacred Choruses. Ross Edwards. 14 minutes. Australian Music
Centre. 2003.
Nyungar Alleluia. Dan Walker. 3 minutes. Australian Music Centre. 2008.
On the Night Train. Joseph Twist. 4 minutes. Morton Music Publications. 2006.
Past Life Melodies. Sarah Hopkins. 5 minutes. Morton Music Publications. 1992.
Pemulwuy. Paul Jarman. 4 minutes. 2005.
Rainchant. Paul Stanhope. 7 minutes. Australian Music Centre. 2000.
Rain Dream. Joseph Twist. 7 minutes. Morton Music Publications. 2006.
Requiem. Peter Sculthorpe. 40 minutes. Faber Music. 2004.
Riawanna. 4 minutes. Stephen Leek. 1994.
Rites of Passage. Peter Sculthorpe. 43 minutes. Faber Music. 1972.
Sacred Kingfisher Psalms. Ross Edwards. 13 minutes. Australian Music Centre. 2009.
Sky Song. Dan Walker. 4 minutes. Morton Music Publications. 1999.
Song of the Yarra. Peter Sculthorpe. 16 minutes. Faber Music. 2008.
Songs of Passage. (Ngana – 6 minutes, Ngayulyul – 4 minutes, Cooraparena – 4 minutes,
Ceduna – 4 minutes, Tabulam – 4 minutes) Stephen Leek. 1994.
148
Sounds of Global Harmony. Sarah Hopkins with Anne Norman and Charles Neville.
Gyuto House, Australia. 2000
Southern Cross Chants. Ross Edwards. 20 minutes. Australian Music Centre. 2004.
Sun Music for Voices and Percussion. Peter Sculthorpe. 9 minutes. Faber Music. 1966.
Symphony No. 4. Ross Edwards. 33 minutes. Australian Music Centre. 2001.
Three Australian Bush Songs. Iain Grandage. 8 minutes. Morton Music Publications.
1999.
Three Geography Songs. Paul Stanhope. 15 minutes. Australian Music Centre. 1997.
Voices of a Land. 12 minutes. Stephen Leek. 1991.
Wheatbelt. Iain Grandage. 9 minutes. Australian Music Centre. 2007.
149
Appendix B
Contact information for composers and publishers
Australian Music Centre. www.australianmusiccentre.com.au
Bunuba Cultural Enterprises.
http://www.jandamarra.com.au/singForTheCountry.html#home
Ross Edwards. www.rossedwards.com
Faber Music. www.fabermusic.com
Iain Grandage. www.iaingrandage.com
Sarah Hopkins. www.sarahhopkins.com
Paul Jarman. www.pauljarman.com
Stephen Leek. www.stephenleek.com
Morton Music Publications. www.musical-resources.com
Peter Sculthorpe. www.petersculthorpe.com.au
Paul Stanhope. www.paulstanhope.com
Joseph Twist. www.joetwist.com
Dan Walker. https://www.facebook.com/musicofdanwalker/info?tab=page_info
150
Appendix C
Map of Australian Aboriginal Settlements Discussed in the Dissertation
Source: http://www.clker.com/clipart-2073.html
Perth
Sydney
Melbourne
Adelaide
Brisbane
Darwin
ARNHEM
LAND
KIMBERLEY
CAPE
YORK
Hobart
NORTHERN
TERRITORY
QUEENSLAND WESTERN
AUSTRALIA
SOUTH
AUSTRALIA
NEW SOUTH
WALES
VICTORIA
TASMANIA
CENTRAL AND
WESTERN DESERTS
ULURU
151
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Scott, Kym Louise
(author)
Core Title
The influence of the Australian landscape and indigenous Aboriginal music and traditions on Australian choral music: a study of choral works by nine Australian composers
School
Thornton School of Music
Degree
Doctor of Musical Arts
Degree Program
Choral Music
Publication Date
02/24/2016
Defense Date
02/23/2016
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
Aboriginal,Australia,Australian,Australian landscape,Choral Music,OAI-PMH Harvest
Format
application/pdf
(imt)
Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Scheibe, Jo-Michael (
committee chair
), Grases, Cristian (
committee member
), Strimple, Nick (
committee member
)
Creator Email
kymlscott@gmail.com,kymscott@usc.edu
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https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-216009
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UC11277433
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etd-ScottKymLo-4159.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-216009 (legacy record id)
Legacy Identifier
etd-ScottKymLo-4159.pdf
Dmrecord
216009
Document Type
Dissertation
Format
application/pdf (imt)
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Scott, Kym Louise
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texts
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University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
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The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...
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Tags
Aboriginal
Australian
Australian landscape