Voice and instrument

These pieces set to music poems by Anne Carson, Elizabeth Smart, Christina Rossetti and Shakespeare, together with words from the Book of Proverbs and the Girls’ Own Annual of 1919

Please click work titles for more information and resources (audio, sheet music, program note etc.) about individual works in this category.

Red Dirt Hymns (2020 -)

Voices and instruments

This is a work in progress. Each song has words by a different Australian poet. Individual songs have different and variable instrumentation.

1. Gone (Jordie Albiston)
2. The New Summer (David McCooey)
3. Hymn of the Garden (John Kinsella)
4. dark cloud (Ellen van Neerven)
5. Isolation Hymn (Judith Bishop)
6. Rain Hymn (Judith Beveridge)
7. What Desire Knows (Sarah Holland-Batt)
8. Ultraviolet (Stephen Edgar)
9. Our Mother's Heart (Kate Fagan)
10. Between Birds (Merlinda Bobis)
11. To Whom Do We Sing? (Mark Wakely)
12. My Octopus Teacher (Alison Flett)
13. Respair (Felicity Plunkett)
14. South Golden Beach (Lisa Brockwell)

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The Moor (2019)

2 minutes

for mezzo-soprano and guitar

A song from the cycle Nature

Text: R.S. Thomas

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Nigh-No-Place (2018)

3 minutes

for mezzo-soprano and flute

A song from the cycle Nature

Text: Jen Hadfield

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No One Could Relax around Jezebel (2017)

14 minutes

for soprano and percussion

Text: Anne Carson

soprano, metal percussion

Commissioned by Julian Burnside AO QC for Jane Sheldon and Claire Edwardes

First performance by Jane Sheldon and Claire Edwardes, Port Fair Spring Music Festival, Reardon Theatre, Port Fairy, 13 October 2018

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In transit (2014-16)

15 minutes

for piano and speaker

Text: Andrew Ford

Commissioned by Ian Munro, Roy Howat, Joel Sachs and Aura Go, with the support of a project grant from the Music Funds of the Australia Council for the Arts

First performance by Ian Munro (piano), Andrew Ford (speaker), Arts in the Valley Festival, Kangaroo Valley, NSW, 6 May 2017

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Nonsense (2012)

8 minutes

for medium voice and piano

1. The Owl and the Pussy-cat 2. The Quangle Wangle's Hat 3. The Jumblies

Text: poems by Edward Lear

First performance by Michael Lampard (baritone), Shirley Trembath (piano), St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, 30 October 2013

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Little Star (2010)

4 minutes

for medium voice and harp/piano

Text: poem by Jane Taylor

First performance by Tobias Cole (countertenor) and Meriel Owen (harp), Canberra International Musica Festival, Fitters' Workshop, Canberra, 30 April 2017

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Golden Slumbers (2008)

3 minutes

for voice and piano

Text: poem by Thomas Dekker

First performance by Iva Bittová and Lisa Moore, Canberra International Music Festival, Street Theatre, Canberra, 16 May 2008

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Domestic Advice (2007)

16 minutes

for soprano and piano

Text: from the Book of Proverbs, Kanteletar and the Girl's Own Annual (1919)

Commissioned by Jane Edwards with funds provided by a composer fellowship from the Music Board of the Australia Council for the Arts

First performance by Jane Edwards (soprano) and David Miller (piano), Manly Council Chambers, Sydney, 14 September 2008

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Three Shakespeare Songs (2006-09)

9 mins

for soprano and piano

1. Orpheus with his Lute (Henry VIII)
2. Chimney-sweepers (Cymbeline)
3. Winter Song (Love's Labours Lost)

Text: William Shakespeare

Nos 1 and 3 commissioned by the Australian Festival of Chamber Music. No 2 commissioned by the Kangaroo Valley Arts Festival (Arts in the Valley) with funds from the Music Board of the Australia Council for the Arts.

First performance by Margaret Schindler and Kevin Power Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Ballroom, Jupiter's Casino, Townsville, Queensland, 7 August 2009.

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