Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

There are far too many chapters in Australian colonial history that are unjust, cruel and even murderous. The Appin Massacre is arguably one of the worst, but for a long time it was nowhere near as well-known as similar massacres like Myall Creek. Campbelltown Arts Centre's "With Secrecy and Despatch" exhibitions in 2016 set out to make this history more widely known, but also to mourn and honour the Aboriginal people of the Dharawal nation who were murdered that day. Of all the music I have written, this was the most confronting to research, and the most humbling to be a part of. I am forever grateful to Campbelltown Arts Centre for the literature and artworks on this subject, to Leah Flanagan for taking me to the place where this happened, and to Jodi Edwards for her beautiful text in the Dharawal language. Ngal budji nguumbun maladha.

Work Details

Year: 2016

Instrumentation: Unison treble choir or solo voice with optional descant, piano.

Duration: 3 min.

Difficulty: Medium

Dedication note: For Gondwana Indigenous Children's Choir and the Campbelltown community

Commission note: Commissioned by Campbelltown Arts Centre to be performed by the Gondwana Indigenous Children's Choir (Campbelltown choir) at the Commemoration Ceremony for the 200th Anniversary of the Appin Massacre, 17/4/2016

First performance: by Campbelltown Gondwana Indigenous Children's Choir — 17 Apr 16. Commemoration Ceremony for the 200th Anniversary of the Appin Massacre, Cataract Dam, Appin NSW

The composer notes the following styles, genres, influences, etc associated with this work:
I did not set out to write something that sounded "Aboriginal", nor did I reference any Aboriginal music. The mournfulness of various traditional European songs, ranging from Ireland to Greece, permeate the melody itself, and works like Peter Sculthorpe's "Port Essington" and Paul Stanhope's "Jandamarra" cast a long shadow over my work.