Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

The work is inspired by the one of the creation dreaming stories of the Gunnai people and is a sound colour journey of Boran the Pelican on a path to meeting Tuk the Musk duck who becomes the mother of all of the Gunnai people. Gunnai Dreaming begins with the sound of the bullroarer and the depiction of landscape and local animals spoken and sung in Gunnai language.

The work then moves through the intertwining of Gunnai language and English tracing Boran's path to meeting Tuk and arriving at Gunyah (home).

Work Details

Year: 2009

Instrumentation: School Choir (S,S,A,A,T,T,B,B), 2 - 4 bullroarers, narrator.

Duration: 6 min.

Difficulty: Medium — For School choir

Commission note: Commissioned by Lavalla Catholic College Senior Choir

First performance: 4 Dec 09. First performed by Lavalla Catholic College Senior Choir and conducted by Shane Reid, at the Parliament of World’s Religions in Melbourne

This work was developed in close consultation with the Lavalla Catholic College Senior Choir and the Gunnai indigenous community. I must acknowledge the importance of Shane Reid, Lavalla Catholic College and the Gunnai community for their ongoing development, support and input to this project. Gunnai Dreaming uses reclaimed language of the Gunnai people. The elders of this community have kindly granted permission for the use of this text in this work. Out of respect to the Gunnai people, the spoken sections, written in traditional language in measures 1- 35, should, where possible, be spoken by a Koori.