476 3659GAVIN LOCKLEY

SYMPHONY OF AUSTRALIABALLADS OF THE BUSH

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CD1

SYMPHONY OF AUSTRALIA [48’40]

Music and lyrics by Gavin Lockley

1 The Story 2’41Jon English speaker, Gavin Lockley pianoFirst paragraph of ‘The Story’ by Victor Steffensen of the Traditional Knowledge Recording Project, Cape York.

2 I. Dreamtime 11’45The vision, the belief and the stories of Australia’s first peoples.Matthew Doyle didgeridoo, Harry Adkins boy soprano, Janet Webb flute, Shefali Pryor oboe, Cantillation

3 II. The Ships 7’01The arrival of European settlers on the First Fleet.Jon English singer and speaker, The Sydney Tribe (Matthew Doyle, Glen Doyle, Clarence Slockee, Jacquelyn Davison) singers and percussionists

4 III. The Red Centre 9’30The Burke and Wills expedition, a story of pioneering courage.Rick Miller, Brian Nixon timpani, Sharolyn Kimmorley piano

5 IV. Pie Jesu 4’14A lament for Australians who have given their lives for their country.Renée Martin mezzo-soprano, Cantillation

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4 A Singer of the Bush 2’06Poem by A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson

5 The Australian Sunrise 4’30Poem by James Lister Cuthbertson

6 Packhorse Drover 2’34Poem by Bruce Simpson

7 The Ships Ditty 5’38Poem by Gavin Lockley

8 Clancy of the Overflow 5’14Poem by A.B. ‘Banjo’ PatersonGavin Lockley piano 4, Sharolyn Kimmorley piano, Sonja Schebeck violin, Paul Laszlo banjo, Ann Palumbo mandolin, Mark Harris double bass & bass guitar, Robert Dimarzo percussion I, Murray Parker percussion II

9 My Country Australia (original version) 5’05Poem by Dorothea MackellarCharles McMahon didgeridoo, Tom (Anthony) Ferris guitar, Leon Gaer bass guitar,Click Track Music Enterprises orchestra

Gavin Lockley baritone

6 V. Immigration Scherzo 4’50A celebration of Australia’s multicultural identity.Heather Lee singer, Kim Cunio s’tar, Riley Lee shakuhachi, Saragan Sriranganathan sitar, Tom (Anthony) Ferris guitar, Fernando Arancibio pan pipes

7 VI. My Country Australia 8’26A tribute to ‘a sunburnt country’ inspired by Dorothea Mackellar.Gavin Lockley baritone, Matthew Doyle didgeridoo, Leon Gaer electric bass,fretless electric bass, Pete Skelton drums, Tom (Anthony) Ferris guitar, Cantillation

With special thanks to the Estate of the Late Dorothea Mackellar for words from My Country by Dorothea Mackellar originally published as Core of my Heart. Additional choral lyrics by Catherine Lockley.

Sydney Symphony Orchestra (Concertmaster: Kirsten Williams)

Brett Weymark conductor

CD2

BALLADS OF THE BUSH [35’21]Music by Gavin Lockley

1 The Man from Ironbark 3’51Poem by A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson

2 Mulga Bill’s Bicycle 2’56Poem by A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson

3 A Bush Christening 3’07Poem by A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson

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I began my musical life as a singer, kicking off,as it were, with the role of Gavroche in LesMisérables at the Theatre Royal in Sydney (atage 10). After studying for a Bachelor of Music invoice at Sydney Conservatorium I moved toGermany to undertake a Masters degree atDetmold Conservatorium.

My compositional career, though, began in mymid-twenties under rather unique circumstances.I was attending a football match with my greatfriend Michael Crouch, where we both noticedthat the Australian fans remained silent, whilstthe Kiwis were very vocal. Michael suggestedthat Australia needed a song that could excitethe crowd and lift 100,000 Australians to theirfeet. I, albeit with some trepidation, said that Ihad ‘just the thing’, and a few weeks latercomposed the anthem My Country Australia to the immortal words of Dorothea Mackellar’sMy Country.

It was in the following year that I wrote toMichael from England with an idea for a mostambitious project: to compose a symphony forAustralia, that told the history of the nation inmusic. After many discussions it was decidedthat My Country Australia would become thefinal movement – a celebration of all it means tobe Australian. This quickly became theSymphony of Australia and its final versioncomprised six movements: ‘Dreamtime’, asymphonic poem depicting the journey of the

Rainbow Serpent and the creation of the land inthe time of the Dreaming; ‘The Ships’, tracingthe journey of the First Fleet and their arrival inPort Jackson; ‘The Red Centre’, the story ofBurke and Wills and their ill-fated transcontinentaljourney; ‘Pie Jesu’, a lament for all Australianswho have paid the ultimate price to defend theirnation in times of war; ‘Immigration Scherzo’, a celebration of our multicultural society; and ‘My Country Australia’, an orchestral and choralcelebration of our nation.

The world premiere of Symphony of Australiatook place on 27 November 2007 at the SydneyOpera House, played by the Sydney Symphonyand attended by a sell-out crowd of 2,400people. The grand finale, ‘My Country Australia’,brought the audience to its feet, to my surprise,and has been doing so ever since.

The Ballads of the Bush were composedthroughout 2008 while I was engaged in PhDstudies at Magdalen College, Oxford. Theselections of poetry include poems that I haveloved since childhood, and reflect my somewhaturgent belief that the great Australian poets andballadeers need to be performed and brought offthe page and to as wide an audience as possible.It is vitally important in an age of information andinformation saturation in a global sense, that we,as an Australian society, continue to celebrateour unique cultural heritage. That cultural heritageis truly rich, indeed exciting, and Ballads of the

Bush, the first in a series of musical settings ofthe great Australian poets, is my effort atpreserving that history.

Clancy of the Overflow was written at thesuggestion of my friend and collaborative partnerColleen McCullough after I heard her recite, withsome relish, the lines ‘and he sees the visionsplendid of the sunlit plains extended’. Thegenesis of Mulga Bill’s Bicycle was a poem Ilearnt by memory in Year 4 at Banks PublicSchool, St Clair and recited nervously before Year6 (!) with shaking knees. The Ships Ditty is a setof verses written by myself and inspired by thestory of Richard Morgan, a convict inMcCullough’s great epic novel Morgan’s Run,which is currently nearing its completion as amusical. The Man from Ironbark is a rippinggreat yarn that, in its bloodthirsty eloquence,leaves the demon barber, Sweeney Todd, fordead. Also included in the collection are morelyric settings of lesser known but neverthelessexceptionally beautiful poetry: Paterson’s ASinger of the Bush, Cuthbertson’s The AustralianSunrise and the rollicking triumph of BruceSimpson’s Packhorse Drover.

As a devotee of Percy Aldridge Grainger I wouldlike to identify myself as a tone-wright ratherthan as a composer.

I would like to thank The Three Waiters forturning me from a singer into an entertainer (orfor trying to).

I would like to thank the mentors who don’tknow me, but whom I have known in mymusical head for years: Messrs Sculthorpe, Vine,Bračanin, Meale and Tom Waits.

I would also like to thank three Australians withScottish-sounding names who are constantlyhelpful, for different reasons: Charles Mackerras,Dorothea Mackellar and the inconceivablybrilliant Colleen McCullough.

But more than this I would like to dedicate thisdouble album and all the crotchets, quavers andorchestral blunders in it to my great friend andmentor Michael Crouch, who awoke in me, withhis enthusiasm and phenomenal energy, a reallove of my country, Australia. If I had known thatattending a rugby match would cause this muchtrouble I would have bought season tickets! As it stands, this album is a testament to that friendship.

From an enthusiastic patriot...

Gavin Lockley

Tone-wright

Desiree van Loon

Amanda Wagg

Tenors

Michael Butchard

Philip Chu

Mark Harris

Stuart Haycock

Andrei Laptev

Dominic Ng

Eric Peterson

Joel Roast

Joseph Toltz

Michael Warby

Raff Wilson

BassesPeter Alexander

Chris Allan

Daniel Beer

Corin Bone

Nick Davison

Craig Everingham

David Greco

Ben Macpherson

Abraham Singer

Recorded in 2007 at Trackdown

Scoring Stage, Sydney

Ballads of the Bush

Recording Engineer

Daniel Brown

Music Director Mark Harris

My Country Australia choir

Douglas Macrae

Nicole Alexander

Catherine Bouchier

Lisa Cooper

Simone Easthope

Luke Gabbedy

Mark Harris

Sue Harris

Tina Harris

Catherine Lockley

Ruth Lockley

Renée Martin

Murray Mayday

Andrew Moran

Joanna Steele

Stephen Tall

Dallas Watts

Recorded in 2008 at Trackdown

Scoring Stage, Sydney

Executive Producers

Martin Buzacott, Robert Patterson

Mastering Oscar Gaona, Studios

301, Sydney

Editorial and Production

Manager Hilary Shrubb

Publications Editor Natalie Shea

Booklet Design Imagecorp

Pty Ltd

Cover Photo Jillaroo and

jackaroo at sunrise, Anna Creek

Cattle Station, South Australia

© Chris McLennan/Photolibrary

ABC Classics thanks Alexandra

Alewood, Katherine Kemp and

Virginia Read.

� 2007 (CD1), � 2009 (CD2)Symphony of Australia Pty Ltd.� 2009 Australian BroadcastingCorporation. Distributed in Australia and New Zealand by Universal MusicGroup, under exclusive licence. Made in Australia. All rights of the owner ofcopyright reserved. Any copying,renting, lending, diffusion, publicperformance or broadcast of this recordwithout the authority of the copyrightowner is prohibited.

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GAVIN LOCKLEYGavin Lockley began hiscareer in the role ofGavroche in CameronMackintosh’s Les Misérables.After completing a Bachelorof Music degree in 1999, aFoundation for YoungAustralians CentenaryScholarship enabled him tostudy in Germany for two years. In 2003, Gavinjoined The Three Waiters, with whom he hasperformed throughout Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. He made his debut recording forABC Classic FM in 2004 as both conductor andsinger, performing the works of Hanns Eisler.

In 2005 he was Assistant Conductor to SimonKenway as well as orchestrator and composerfor Alexander Productions’ premiere of A Mid-Summer Opera at the Sydney Conservatorium ofMusic. Gavin was also an associate artist withthe Anthony Warlow/Lesley Garrett Australiantour of The Magic of Music, as well as asupporting artist for the Russell WatsonAustralasian tour of Amore Musica in 2005. In2006, Gavin organised a series of concerts forthe Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia,conducting performances at Australia House inLondon and City Recital Hall Angel Place inSydney. He conducted the opera Dead ManWalking for Andrew McManus at Sydney’s StateTheatre in September/October 2007.

Symphony of Australia

Recording Producer Sharolyn Kimmorley

Recording and Mixing Engineer Simon Leadley

Mastering Engineer, Recording and Mixing

Engineer Daniel Brown 2

Additional Production, Remixing and Mastering

Adam Vanryne 7

Sequencer Jay Collie

Technical Consultant Sofie Loizou

Music Editor Torei Lista

Cantillation

Chorusmaster: Philip Chu

Sopranos

Catherine Bouchier

Catherine Bryant

Kate Dowman

Danielle Grant

Amanda Hamilton

Tina Harris

Belinda Montgomery

Josie Ryan

Nicole Thomson

Emma Zampieri

Mezzo-Sopranos

Anne Farrell

Sue Harris

Judy Herskovits

Inara Molinari

Rose Saunders

Natalie Shea

Nicole Smeulders

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