Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

In November 2000, the composer visited Anzac Cove at Gallipoli and was moved by the beauty of Attatürk's text, which is carved into a large stone plaque near the shoreline. Attatürk was the young officer who, at the time of the Gallipoli campaign, brilliant led the Turkish forces in their successful defence against the Allied invasion and went on to become the founder and leader of modern Turkey. Johnnies and mehmets are slang terms for Allied and Turkish soldiers.

The brush-­pulse which begins the music is intended to be unobtrusive but softly audible to the audience; the reference is not to drums or military noise but to the ghostly echoes of the ANZAC's footsteps. For this sound, the conductor can select five to ten singers not in full view of the audience, who can swing an arm gently (about six inches in front and behind is enough) and let the hand brush the leg as it passes. The noteheads slashed downward from left to right indicate the down-­stroke from front to back (much like a down-­bow); the slightly different colour of the up-stroke on the second and fourth beat is intentional.

Work Details

Year: 2001

Instrumentation: SATBarB choir, percussion, (piano, for rehearsal only).Percussion may be performed by members of the choir while singing.

Duration: 5 min.

Difficulty: Advanced

First performance: by Adelaide Philharmonic Choir, Timothy Sexton — 24 Apr 03. 'Remembrance—an Anzac tribute', Festival Theatre, Adelaide