Work
Beach burial, op.78 : for SATB choir, Trumpet in C, timpani, organ
by Andrew Schultz (2009, this version: 2026)
Score Sample
View a sample of the score of this work
This sample is from the SATB Choir with full orchestra version of this work
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Non-Commercial
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CD
Beach burial / Andrew Schultz
Version: This product features the SATB Choir with full orchestra version of this work
Library shelf no. CD 2081 [Available for loan]
Score
Beach burial : for choir and orchestra / Andrew Schultz
Version: This product features the SATB Choir with full orchestra version of this work
Library shelf no. Q 782.554/SCH 7 [Available for loan]
Display all products featuring this work (3 more) 
Work Overview
There are three striking images in Ken Slessor's great World War Two poem Beach Burial that I have tried to capture and develop in music. The first is the image, both tranquil and deeply disturbing, of the dead bodies of sailors washed ashore at first light after a sea battle. The second image is the ominous, almost bitter, impression of the heavy tread of feet and driven stakes of driftwood as the bodies are buried in the sand. And then the final, forlorn image of makeshift epitaphs to the unknown washed away as the natural world overwhelms the signs of the asinine conflicts of humans at war. The calm stillness of Slessor's observation seems to be at odds with the implicit horror of the scene. Perhaps this is because the atmosphere in his seascape is heavy with salt and humidity as if this were a familiar and comfortable Australian beach rather than the distant and brutal strand at El Alamein in The Gulf of Arabs.
— Andrew Schultz, March 2009
Work Details
Year: 2009, this version: 2026
Instrumentation: SATB choir, Trumpet in C, timpani, organ.
Duration: 10 min.
First performance: by Brisbane Chamber Choir, Graeme Morton — 25 Apr 26. St John's Cathedral, Brisbane
Awards & Prizes
| Year | Award | Placing | Awarded for/to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Art Music Awards: Work of the Year: Vocal/Choral | Finalist | Andrew Schultz |
Analysis
Article: Music and the meaning of water
by Andrew Schultz
Naxos Musicology International (2 May 2020)
Resonate article: Art Music Awards 2011 - finalists announced by Australian Music Centre
Subjects
- Has as subject/About: Anti-War
Performances of this work
25 Apr 26: St John's Cathedral, Brisbane. Featuring Graeme Morton, Brisbane Chamber Choir.
25 Apr 2010: at Brisbane Concert Choir at St Andrews (St Andrew's Church, Brisbane City). Featuring Debra Shearer-Dirié, Monique Latemore, Brisbane Concert Choir, Shaun Brown, Sinfonia of St Andrew's.
1 Nov 2009: at War and Peace (Sydney Opera House, Concert Hall). Featuring Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Brett Weymark, Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra.
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