AustLit

'The story of the Gallipoli campaign is everlasting. It is a story of endeavour, courage, tragedy, great achievements and great sacrifices. It is a story of young nations and old coming together in conflict. It is, most of all a human story, of the spectrum of human emotions. This story is woven into the fabric of Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. Millions of words have been written about the campaign, but the story has never been ‘narrated’ musically, until now.

'The Gallipoli Symphony is a major composition produced by internationally respected composers from Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. It represents the first time ever that eleven acclaimed composers from three nations that fought in the campaign have collaborated on a single commemorative work of this scale.

'The Gallipoli story was structured into parts, like chapters in a book, each themed around an element of the campaign and assigned to a composer to create a work based on that theme.

• Gelibolu : Omar Faruk Tekbilek (Turkey)
• He Poroporaoki (Farewell): Gareth Farr and Richard Nunns (New Zealand)
• The Voyage : Graeme Koehne AO (Australia)
• Thoughts of Home : Peter Sculthorpe AO OBE (Australia)
• The Landing : Elena Kats-Chernin (Australia)
• The Invasion : Kamran Ince (Turkey)
• God Pity Us Poor Soldiers : Ross Harris (New Zealand)
• The August Offensive : Andrew Schultz (Australia)
• The Trenches Are Empty Now : Ross Edwards (Australia)
• Hope of the Higher Heart : Demir Demirkan (Turkey)
• Future : Graeme Koehne AO (Australia)

'Every year since 2006 a movement of the Symphony has been presented at Gallipoli. Leading classical and traditional musicians engaged from Turkey, Australia and New Zealand, augmented by musicians drawn from the Australian and New Zealand military bands performed a piece of The Gallipoli Symphony in the early hours of 25 April for the thousands of attendees awaiting the Dawn Service.

'After ten years in the making, The Gallipoli Symphony will be performed for the world in 2015.

'The Gallipoli Symphony creates an important legacy. It tells the story of the Gallipoli campaign through music; reminding us of the horror and the heartache and carrying a message of hope, peace, friendship and collaboration between nations.' (Publication summary)

'This work marks the 200th anniversary of the appointment of Lachlan Macquarie and Elizabeth Henrietta Macquarie as governor and first lady of the colony of New South Wales. I chose to devote myself to Mrs Macquarie in particular: she played the cello and I wrote the work with her cello in mind. The instrument was made in 1814 by Thomas Kennedy of London. It is now housed in the Museum of Sydney.

'In 2001, a Volunteers' Memorial, designed by Richard Leplastrier, was put in place on Mrs Macquarie's Chair, the well-known headland on Sydney Harbour named after Mrs Macquarie. I composed a work especially for the unveiling of the memorial, one that could be performed at future memorial services. This work is an unaccompanied unison setting of a poem, Landscapes, by Judith Wright.

'Because of this personal association with Mrs Macquarie's Chair, it seemed fitting to base the present work upon the melody inspired by Judith Wright's words. Following a somewhat expansive opening, the melody is stated quietly, mostly in its original form but with some additional material. The music then becomes rather declamatory, recalling the opening. This gives way to an impassioned variation of the melody, leading to the climax and a brief coda. Seagull sounds heard in the opening section return at the end.

'Remembering Mrs Macquarie, is lovingly dedicated to H E Professor Marie Bashir, who unveiled the Volunteers' Memorial shortly after she became Governor of New South Wales. She is an authority on the life and times of Elizabeth Henrietta Macquarie (1788-1835).' (Publication summary)

'Quamby Bluff is a mountainous outcrop in Tasmania, where colonial government soldiers reputedly drove a tribe of Aborigines to the cliff's edge where they faced the choice of being shot, or jumping to their deaths. They chose the latter and as they jumped shouted "Quamby! Quamby!", meaning "Save me! Save me!". Some of the lyrical music derives from melodic material composed during the composer's youth.' (Publication summary)

Musical revue.

Loosely set in Sydney's King's Cross, but occasionally going further afield (including Scotland and southern USA), Cross Section followed on from the very successful Phillip Street Theatre revue Around The Loop, which ran for over a year. The King's Cross flavour, which one critic viewed as being far 'from strong', involved scenes of Crucians exchanging hauteur and abuse from assorted apartment windows; a sentimental ballad about some hospitable old lady of Palmer Street (performed by Noel Brophy); a skit on the espresso craze ('You Can't Keep a Good Cup Down'); and a bit of hoyden autobiography from a Rushcutter's Bay conductress (Sydney Morning Herald 12 September 1957, p.14). Other sketches included 'Truth in Advertising' (performed by Peter Batey), Dolore Whiteman's 'Frankie and Johnnie', Rhonny Gabriel's 'Not Negotiable', and a dance number, 'Caribbean Bazaar', performed by Yolanda and Antonio Rodrigues.

The musical aspects of the revue are said to have included an 'Auld Lang Syne' finale and a song about a girl-ruined Bank of New South Wales teller. The original musical numbers were composed by the Phillip Street house composer Dot Mendoza and moonlighting classical composer Peter Sculthorpe. The latter's contributions (set to words by John McKellar) were 'Truth in Advertising', 'Manic Espresso' (scored as a send-up samba rhythm and included in the 'coffee bar cult' sketch), 'Redleaf Revelations', 'Shooting a Lion', 'I Knew a Fella', and 'Something You Can't Pin Down'.