Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

Baiyami and the Creation, recounted by Darkinjung Indigenous elder Uncle Gavi Duncan, tells the legend, mirrored in the western Bible, of an all knowing, all seeing creator, living in the sky (the Milky Way) and forging the Earth and its landscapes and creatures. In the beginning, the earth was an undefined mass in the Mirrabooka (the Milky Way). Baiyami prepared his canoe with spears, paddle and tucker (kangaroo) for a great journey across the River of Life (Mirrabooka). He decided to rest upon a great mountain, which was crushed when he landed (Mt Yango, Wollombi). When he arrived on earth, that was the birth of the Morning Star which gave the Earth its first light.

He had also awoken Gurria, the Rainbow Serpent from its deep sleep. Gurria rose to the surface, eating up everything in its path, gauging the land, pushing up mountains and carving the landscape of the country. Strange creatures roamed as Baiyami walked across the lands, leaving his great footprints in the stone. The creatures were in awe as his voice of thunder roared.

Yhi, our spirit Mother of Creation, descended from the Mirrabooka, with her daughters, the Mias, the first girls. They saw the strange creatures that roamed the lands and, following Baiyami's footprints, they travelled the lands, changing all things in their path. The spirit beings changed to become the mountains, valleys, wetlands, waterholes, trees, animals and birds. Some became special sacred places in creation as a legacy of Baiyami and Yhi. Yhi and the Mias returned to the Mirrabooka, thus creating the Evening Star. The new world was different. Baiyami came back and saw all the creation in its glory.

Work Details

Year: 2019

Instrumentation: Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, Cor Anglais, 2 Clarinets, Bass Clarinet, 2 Bassoons, Contrabassoon, 4 Horns, 3 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Tuba, Timpani, Percussion (4), Piano, Narrator, Strings

Duration: 17 min.

Difficulty: Advanced