Joy, passion and wellbeing flooded the stage of the Sydney Opera House, Concert Hall through the joint choral forces of the Gondwana Choirs, the Sydney Children’s Choir and the Vienna Boys Choir, singing a wide-ranging repertoire. They then joined force to rouse the gods from their heavenly repose in a world premiere work: Boori Guman.
This was life enhancing music making full of vocal contrast, stylistic difference and surprising intensity when piano, percussion and the massed sounds of young people enveloped the hall.
Each of the choirs were dedicated a bracket of songs to perform, commencing with the forces of the Sydney Children’s Choirs. Their first half of the concert highlighted modern Australian choral compositions with a deft bracket by Dan Walker (born 1978), including a Thousand Leagues of Sea and the Nyungar Alleluia. The poise of his How can you catch the wind? was particularly moving. These were followed by a single work by Joseph Twist (born 1982) and Michael Atherton (born 1950). Twist’s Rain Dream was particularly poetic, its wordless melisma full of tension – underlined by finger clicking as the rain tries to fall on the parched earth. Atherton’s propulsive energy was given a fine display in his Song for Imberombera: one glorious voice, indeed.
This showcasing of Australian music was both infectious in its delight and thoughtful in its reflection on the vastness of the land, sea and sky configuring in communal sound the essential part these forces play in our joint dreamings.
The Gondwana Indigenous Children’s’ Choir followed with a series of works by Luke Byrne and Gudju Gudju with Yidinji words, including Storm Bird and Birinyi, followed by a bracket of traditional songs from the Torres Strait Island. The open sounds and deep sonorities of this choir seemed to channel the voice of the land, again combining deep reflection and joy.
The first half of the concert ended with an arrangement of “This is our Home” from Jandamarra: Sing for the Country by Paul Stanhope (born 1969) with English words by Steve Hawkes and bunuba text based on song words by June Oscar and Patsy Bedford. All this was thrillingly delivered in song and movement by the combined Gondwana Choirs. The exuberance was infectious
In this first half, the Vienna Boys Choir looked on in their choir seats and warmly applauded their colleagues.
After interval, they were centre stage and plunged us into the world of ‘mittel europa’ with a surprisingly successful arrangement of "O Fortuna” from Carmina Burana by Orff. Then followed two Mozart pieces - Due pupille amabili (adapted from Notturno K. 439) and Piu non si Trovano (Notturno K. 549). They were sweetly charming, but not necessarily sharply rendered with the cutglass clarity that vocal Mozart requires.
The Mendelssohn Gruss, Op. 63. No. 3, was piquant, capturing the shifting sounds of the two-part writing. The Biebl Ave Maria was exquisite, difficult part writing notwithstanding, as the boys voice caught the tension and shine of this lovely Hymn to the Virgin. There was enough earthiness in the timbre of avoid any cloying sweetness.
The Bulgarian folk song, Dilmano dilbero, was a delight, as was the operetta item from Robert Stolz: Im prater bluh’n wieder die Baume, which had the right bittersweet flavour swirling through the whipped cream.
The obligatory Strauss items were nicely done but didn’t provide the same level of frisson. The Matrosenpolka by Josef Strauss was extraordinarily foursquare, while the Blue Danube waltz really does require its magical orchestral introduction to set the sense for its exquisite lilt.
After all this 19th European richness – including an extract from the choral finale of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony - we returned to the ancient land of Australia and witnessed the unfurling of a world premiere. This involved all three choirs in a mini-cantata, essaying in English and indigenous languages the story of how the power of fire, stolen by the serpent, was returned to the people of the land. Boori Guman by Owen Elsley (born 1993) is a simple but effective work that gives each choir a little tale to tell. The Vienna Boys Choir seemed to particularly enjoy the sad fleck of the words in their section: sadly, the Grasshopper was burnt brown by the deadly fire. The pigeon, sung into being by the Gondwana Choirs was less well characterised and also unsuccessful with its quest of recapturing the fire, but thankfully the mighty little black bird – employing the massed forces of the Sydney Children’s choir - managed to dart in and out of fire’s menace and bring it back on her tail for all humans to enjoy. This miraculous rescue was deftly detailed in the music. The general celebration that followed these related narratives was wholesome and all the choirs combined to bring an explosion of joy - in song and movement. Owen Elsley and Guju Gudju have created a tender-hearted work.
Australian public life may have a dearth of nourishing discovery at this point in time, but the sight of these groupings of joyous young people singing the wellbeing of the land into our consciousness, seemed to wilfully instantiate a hope that the newer generations may be more embracing of the diversity of our cultural landscape and inspired by its ancient survivor beauty.
Songs of My Country – Concert Hall – Sydney Opera House – October 10, 2017
Gar Jones
This was life enhancing music making full of vocal contrast, stylistic difference and surprising intensity when piano, percussion and the massed sounds of young people enveloped the hall.
Each of the choirs were dedicated a bracket of songs to perform, commencing with the forces of the Sydney Children’s Choirs. Their first half of the concert highlighted modern Australian choral compositions with a deft bracket by Dan Walker (born 1978), including a Thousand Leagues of Sea and the Nyungar Alleluia. The poise of his How can you catch the wind? was particularly moving. These were followed by a single work by Joseph Twist (born 1982) and Michael Atherton (born 1950). Twist’s Rain Dream was particularly poetic, its wordless melisma full of tension – underlined by finger clicking as the rain tries to fall on the parched earth. Atherton’s propulsive energy was given a fine display in his Song for Imberombera: one glorious voice, indeed.
This showcasing of Australian music was both infectious in its delight and thoughtful in its reflection on the vastness of the land, sea and sky configuring in communal sound the essential part these forces play in our joint dreamings.
The Gondwana Indigenous Children’s’ Choir followed with a series of works by Luke Byrne and Gudju Gudju with Yidinji words, including Storm Bird and Birinyi, followed by a bracket of traditional songs from the Torres Strait Island. The open sounds and deep sonorities of this choir seemed to channel the voice of the land, again combining deep reflection and joy.
The first half of the concert ended with an arrangement of “This is our Home” from Jandamarra: Sing for the Country by Paul Stanhope (born 1969) with English words by Steve Hawkes and bunuba text based on song words by June Oscar and Patsy Bedford. All this was thrillingly delivered in song and movement by the combined Gondwana Choirs. The exuberance was infectious
In this first half, the Vienna Boys Choir looked on in their choir seats and warmly applauded their colleagues.
After interval, they were centre stage and plunged us into the world of ‘mittel europa’ with a surprisingly successful arrangement of "O Fortuna” from Carmina Burana by Orff. Then followed two Mozart pieces - Due pupille amabili (adapted from Notturno K. 439) and Piu non si Trovano (Notturno K. 549). They were sweetly charming, but not necessarily sharply rendered with the cutglass clarity that vocal Mozart requires.
The Mendelssohn Gruss, Op. 63. No. 3, was piquant, capturing the shifting sounds of the two-part writing. The Biebl Ave Maria was exquisite, difficult part writing notwithstanding, as the boys voice caught the tension and shine of this lovely Hymn to the Virgin. There was enough earthiness in the timbre of avoid any cloying sweetness.
The Bulgarian folk song, Dilmano dilbero, was a delight, as was the operetta item from Robert Stolz: Im prater bluh’n wieder die Baume, which had the right bittersweet flavour swirling through the whipped cream.
The obligatory Strauss items were nicely done but didn’t provide the same level of frisson. The Matrosenpolka by Josef Strauss was extraordinarily foursquare, while the Blue Danube waltz really does require its magical orchestral introduction to set the sense for its exquisite lilt.
After all this 19th European richness – including an extract from the choral finale of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony - we returned to the ancient land of Australia and witnessed the unfurling of a world premiere. This involved all three choirs in a mini-cantata, essaying in English and indigenous languages the story of how the power of fire, stolen by the serpent, was returned to the people of the land. Boori Guman by Owen Elsley (born 1993) is a simple but effective work that gives each choir a little tale to tell. The Vienna Boys Choir seemed to particularly enjoy the sad fleck of the words in their section: sadly, the Grasshopper was burnt brown by the deadly fire. The pigeon, sung into being by the Gondwana Choirs was less well characterised and also unsuccessful with its quest of recapturing the fire, but thankfully the mighty little black bird – employing the massed forces of the Sydney Children’s choir - managed to dart in and out of fire’s menace and bring it back on her tail for all humans to enjoy. This miraculous rescue was deftly detailed in the music. The general celebration that followed these related narratives was wholesome and all the choirs combined to bring an explosion of joy - in song and movement. Owen Elsley and Guju Gudju have created a tender-hearted work.
Australian public life may have a dearth of nourishing discovery at this point in time, but the sight of these groupings of joyous young people singing the wellbeing of the land into our consciousness, seemed to wilfully instantiate a hope that the newer generations may be more embracing of the diversity of our cultural landscape and inspired by its ancient survivor beauty.
Songs of My Country – Concert Hall – Sydney Opera House – October 10, 2017
Gar Jones