Epic Sounds presented by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Concert Hall, QPAC
26th June, 2021
Conductor Benjamin Northey
Soloist William Barton, didgeridoo
BARTON Apii Thatini Mu Murtu (To sing and carry a coolamon on country together)
VERDI Overture to La forza del destino
SIBELIUS Symphony No.5 in E flat, Op 82
Dr Gemma Regan
An Epic Concert Celebrating Beginnings and Endings
The primal bass sounds of the didgeridoo reverberated across the lands of the Yuggera and Turrbal people. The kookaburra called amongst the gum trees as the sun set within the reddened walls of the Concert Hall at Mianjin, the “land of the water rat” of the Brisbane South Bank. Tommy Coghill’s Welcome to Country was an incredible introduction to an eclectic mix of Epic Sounds presented by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, featuring the pioneering William Barton with a World premiere of Apii Thatini Mu Murtu (To sing and carry a coolamon on country together). It was also to be the last concert with the QSO for Principal Harp Jill Atkinson, after 47 years of working in the orchestra, after honing her talents to perfection.
Proud Kalkadunga Queenslander William Barton followed the Welcome to Country with Apii Thatini Mu Murtu, over twenty years after his inaugural concert when he played with the iconic Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe. On meeting the young Barton he had exclaimed “I’ve heard you are a good didgeridoo player, we’ll see about that!” Indeed we have with Barton representing First Nation Australian music around the World, having played at the Vatican, for the Queen and at the Beijing Olympics. In the live streamed In Conversation as part of the Rehearsal Series Preview, Barton described the piece as a lullaby to the Australian landscape connecting with the ancestors. Craig Whitehead, Chief Executive of the QSO described how exciting it was to be creating “a new form of Australian music…with a unique Queensland story in a classical musical form.”
The orchestral piece was commissioned by The Honourable Anthe Philippides, a champion of equality and recently retired Supreme Court Judge, who was keen to support new Australian music combining both classical and ancient sounds. With an estimated 98% of traditional Australian music lost, the initiative of Craig Whitehead and the QSO is to create new innovative music combining the two. Barton noted that “We all have a songline.” Apii Thatini Mu Murtu was in the Kalkadunga language, yet seemed to immortalise the songline of the multi-cultural heritage of modern Queenslanders.
The combination of the origins of the European orchestral sound combined with the ancient unique timbre of Australian nature played through a simple tree trunk was stunning. The didgeridoo expressed the memory of ancestors and the nature of the red land as it soared above sliding trombones and a metronomic trumpet motif. Rain sticks, wobble boards xylophones and drums along with frenzied strings exemplified the chaos of nature until the end, which was silenced by the soulful cry of Barton. The audience exploded with applause and a long standing ovation in appreciation of the unique sound of Australia.
Verdi’s Overture to the opera the Force of Destiny, Overture to La forza del destino was chosen by Principal Harp Jill Atkinson, for her last performance with the QSO after 47 years, interestingly symbolised by the 47 strings on a harp. The piece is schizophrenic in nature from the sinister opening ending with Rossini-style triplets. The harp took more of a background role, but Jill was accoladed afterwards by conductor Benjamin Northey for her virtuosic contribution to the QSO and sometimes cheeky comments about previous conductors at rehearsals. Her sardonic nature was instantly demonstrated when she thanked her friends for coming to her last concert despite the fact that they had never bothered to come see her over the 47 years of performances! After flowers and a rapturous applause she left the stage with an “over and out from me!”
The much longer Symphony No.5 in E flat, Op 82 seemed flatter and less interesting than the previous two incredible pieces, despite this piece being his most popular. Sibelius is the most famous Finnish composer and conducted the inaugural performance of the symphony in celebration of his 50th birthday, to a plethora of accolades. Conductor Benjamin Northey had warned a now effervescent audience not to pre-empt the ending as there are six chords, each marked with a pause. The lovely swan theme of the second movement soared to an abbreviated coda, finishing in the third movement with whirling strings and a syncopated woodwind counterpoint as the orchestra explodes at the end. The audience behaved by clapping effusively at the correct ending in appreciation of an incredible concert celebrating beginnings and endings.
Fortunately you can hear this concert on ABC Classic on the 11th July at 1pm (AEDT).