ABSTRACT
A number of years ago, I was seeking to return to the ‘art music’ enclave after some time spent writing theatrical music and scoring a number of short films. The aesthetic voice in my head, coaxing me back in the direction of ‘serious’ music composition, had been growing steadily louder. Eventually I arrived at the point where I was ready to re-embark upon a long creative journey that I knew would provide nourishment and fulfilment, as well as frustration and angst. Getting to this moment of clarity had been no mean feat; I needed to convince myself that I had something to compose for – a reason to create. I found this impetus through my connection to the First World War. The prospect of giving voice to the narrative of my forebears through music was most exciting. I had been in dialogue with pianist Zubin Kanga, who was looking for new Australian piano works. He commissioned a composition that allowed me to reflect upon the war experiences of my great-great uncle. 1 I also began a quest to see what other Australian composers had engaged with the Great War in their own compositions. My findings left me surprised; there was little music to uncover. Despite the acknowledged importance of the First World War upon the development of Australian society and identity, few Australian art music composers have written works that grapple with our wartime past. 2
Yet the spectre of the Great War looms large within Australia’s cultural narrative and has been a focal point for a number of seminal Australian artists. Arthur Streeton’s wartime images capture the ravaged towns and villages of northern France and Sidney Nolan’s mid-1950s Gallipoli-inspired paintings draw the observer into the contradiction between the soldier as warrior-hero and the internal mental anguish of men gripped by fear. Frank Hurley’s vivid war photographs speak of the overwhelming brutality of the military industrial-complex and man’s struggles to survive against the odds. Henry Lawson’s book of war poetry, My Army, O My Army , published in 1915, is filled with caricatures of Australian military bravery and larrikinism, tempered with melancholic realism. Alan Seymour’s controversial play One day of the year , written in 1958, intimates that the legend of Anzac was fast becoming an irrelevant and alcohol-infused farce. Peter Weir’s film Gallipoli , released in 1982, tells the tragic story of young Australian men, with so much
1 The process of commissioning is quite nuanced and symbiotic. The genesis of musical compositions sometimes starts with a composer, who will then begin discussions with an ensemble or musician. On other occasions, it will be an artistic director, ensemble or performer who will seek out a composer to write a new work.
