Ross Edwards (1943) Australia
2009 for mixed choir
Theatre of Voices Edition – a selection of fine choral works handpicked by Paul Hillier.
For more information on the composer and the full, updated TOVE catalogue, visit the Theatre of Voices Edition website.
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Ibegan to compose Sacred Kingfisher Psalms immediately after completing another a capella choral work, Missa Alchera (Mass of the Dreaming) for the Brisbane Chamber Choir. I compiled texts excerpted from the Latin Vulgate versions of Psalms 1 and 130 as well as the names of birds in the language of the Aboriginal people who inhabited the district that is now Sydney long before Europeans arrived in Australia. These ancient texts have in common a strong sense of the spirit and significance of place and an awareness and acceptance of implicit natural laws recognized throughout the ages as being essential for balance and harmony, renewal – and, ultimately, survival. I have treated them musically as both chants and praises with a strong connection to the earth.
The work springs abruptly from the interiority of Psalm 130 into a vigorous ‘bird chant’. In this ritual chanting of bird names, prominent among them dyaramak, the sacred kingfisher, a close relation of the kookaburra, there are many resonances of earlier material as well as a return to the Phrygian mode and its pentatonic derivatives which underpin the psalm settings. No attempt has been made to mimic either Aboriginal music or birdsong: the rhythmic patterns and drones are directly influenced by my subconscious absorption of the sounds of the south eastern coastal environment of Australia where I have spent most of my life. The spontaneous appearance of some universal characteristics of children’s song seemed in keeping with the theme of renewal.
Sacred Kingfisher Psalms, composed in Sydney and the Blue Mountains west of the city, was cocommissioned by Ars Nova Copenhagen, the Edinburgh International Festival Society, The Song Company, and Father Arthur E. Bridge for Ars Musica Australis.
Ross Edwards
Duration: c. 12’30’”
First performance by The Song Company, conductor Roland Peelman, on May 22, 2010, at The Fitter’s Workshop, Canberra International Music Festival.
Vocal Text
PSALM 1
beatus vir qui non abiit in consilio impiorum et in via peccatorum non stetit et in cathedra pestilentiae non sedit
sed in lege Domini voluntas eius et in lege eius meditabitur die ac nocte
et erit tamquam lignum transplantatum iuxta rivulos aquarum quod fructum suum dabit in tempore suo et folium eius non defluet et omne quod fecerit prosperabitur
PSALM 130
canticum graduum Domine non est exaltatum cor meum neque elati sunt oculi mei et non ambulavi in magnis et in mirabilibus super me
si non proposui et silere feci animam meam sicut ablactatus ad matrem suam ita ablactata ad me anima mea
Book of Common Prayer, 1662
Names of birds in the Eora Language
binit – tawny frogmouth bubuk – boobook owl dyaramak – sacred kingfisher gulina – rufous night heron guriyal – parakeet garrangangabumarri – pelican gulungaga – red-brown finch dyuralya – brolga guma – king parrot wungawunga – wonga pigeon marrigang – sittell garrawi – sulphur-crested cockatoo
from Macquarie Aboriginal Words
Blessed is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners : and hath not sat in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord : and in his law will he exercise himself day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the waterside : that will bring forth his fruit in due season. His leaf also shall not wither: and look, whatsoever he doeth, it shall prosper.
Lord, I am not high-minded : I have no proud looks.
I do not exercise myself in great matters : which are too high for me.
But I refrain my soul, and keep it low, like as a child that is weaned from his mother : yea, my soul is even as a weaned child.
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stetit-stetit- in mp cathe-dra-caincathe-dra-cathe-cathe-dra-
stetit-stetit- et mp in cathe-dra-cathe-cathe-et