Above: Deborah Cheetham-Fraillon’s work was heard in Sydney with huge forces. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Dhungala Children’s Choir and Year 7 students from the Conservatorium High School joined SSO in this requiem, sung entirely in Gunditjmara language. Featured image- the stage communication was highlighted throughout by the art of Tom Day. Photos: Cassandra Hannagan.
There are precious few full-scale ‘requiems’ by Australian composers. Peter Sculthorpe gifted us one in 2004 including didjeridu in its orchestration. Colin Brumby’s Requiem Aeternam- an unaccompanied choral piece -reached us in 2013. Anne Crawse’s 7 movement mass combined latin text with Michael Leunig’s published poetry, The Prayer Tree.In 2018, for the 100th anniversary of the Great War ending, seven major Australian compositional voices wrote movements for the Digger’s Requiem.
One year later, Deborah Cheetham Fraillon’s Eumeralla, A War Requiem For Peace for multiple choirs and full orchestra had its first performance at Melbourne Arts Centre’s Hamer Hall. This past week, on a triggering September 11 no less, it was Sydney’s chance to hear this powerful, groundbreaking incarnation of the requiem format.
In the past, Antipodean requiem versions employed the ancient European and church text in Latin-complete with the heavy handed fear of hell and sections of the Catholic rite still featured. In Cheetham Fraillon’s masterpiece of atmosphere, tribute, spirit and moving on the latin mass movements mostly remain but the text is wiped out, with text sung in First Nations language instead.
New poetry is modelled on the usual movements, helping us to lament and to learn. It lithely reignites the reality of the Eumeralla wars, rolling genocides lasting decades in our own backyard. The result is a nineteen movement work exploring violence, fear, death and the aftermath of fatal battles. No mere token tribute to ancient language, it is totally in Gunditjmara language, worked on by linguistic experts Dr Vicki Couzens and Travers Eira.
Sydney Symphony Orchestra plus choirs including members of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Dhungala Children’s Choir plus students of Sydney’s Conservatorium High School perform with excellent soloists Deborah Cheetham-Fraillon, Jess Hitchcock and Jud Arthur. This diverse group harnessed the power and emotion of a pioneering work, which is quite a spellbinding musical and cultural wake-up call.
Above: Composer and soprano, Deborah Cheetham-Fraillon. Photo credit: Wayne Quilliam.
The centuries-old Catholic requiem text urges rest for the deceased, but also monopolises on the captive audience to reinforce key points of the catechism. It capitalises on the chance to warn against sin, to be fearful of underestimating the power of God, forgetting the key church stories and the need for people to keep the Church central to their lives.
Fast forward to now. This songline’s unprecedented text, full of sorrowful fact, healing stories and hope for peace or understanding. It is set to a range of accessible mood music. Its elevated delivery, nestled in a classical music outlook but not cliche or restricted by this. Its layered and forthright vocal solo and choral tone entices fans of large scale choral works and newcomers to the genre alike.
This is a sprawling, dramatic requiem version with fine communication across the stage between musicians, soloist playing protagonists, human descendants as well as speaking clearly to audience. The opening movement, ‘O Pernmeeyal’ (Requiem Aeternam) is not a scared, subservient request to Domine but rather a plea to the great creator, to whom the music is directed in respect, honour, sharing and health.
This composer’s superb ability to present text in language, comfortably wed to atmospheric contemporary classical music is natural and breathtaking. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs demonstrate this talent at every concert, using Cheetham-Fraillon’s shimmering choral piece Tarimi Nulay (Long Time Living Here) as each event’s Acknowledgement of Country. For this SSO concert’s special presentation of the Requiem, the composer-soprano performed it centre stage, in solo version with orchestra for us.
Deborah Cheetham-Fraillon also took the part of soprano soloist, joining mezzo-soprano and baritone voices in this work’s compelling conversation. It was a great experience to hear her voice in this well blended tapestry, her talent as a composer, storyteller, realist, humanitarian and musician on multifaceted display. The poetry in English and Gunditjmara was riveting, especially in the way it glanced at the Latin, using words or phrases or concepts as a springboard, boldly diverting from them to document feelings and facts now revealed for us to learn from.
The huge climaxes appearing at times in the penetrating discussion were substantial listening moments. The musical development of fear, helplessness, courage and survival of spirit plus identity are successful developments in many movements, via Cheetham-Friaillon’s new takes on well-known movements.
Above: Deborah Cheetham-Fraillon performs her ‘Tarimi Nulay’ (Long Time Living Here) to begin this SSO concert and version of her ‘Eumeralla, A War Requiem For Peace’.
The anger of the Lord morphs into horrors of war, fear and loss in the ‘Deen Ngangang warrakeeleek’ (Dies Irae). Tallying of thousands of men, women and children was referred to in the new look ‘Kooyeen-wanoong ‘(Liber Scriptus).
‘The Tyookyong-ee’ (Agnus Dei) and ‘Tarrameek-tarrameek-kee-ngeeye’ (Libera Me) speak of sacrifice and learning then of seeking justice plus changes behaviour or outlook. The ‘Pang ngutee-kee-weeng’ (Recordare) and ‘Deen nganang weerakaleeyt’ (Lacrimosa) use assembled forces well to refer to the impacts of discovering colonial historical truths. These horrors are offered with aching choral and orchestral gesturing the power of memory and mourning, with succinct initial text setting followed by exciting reiterations.
Many movements use the new-and-peaceful-world text in artful overlap and repetition-musical techniques which have also survived the test of time. Soloists from the orchestra are given brief linking or emphasis-useful material of simply beautiful songlike character. Thundering sections with all choirs, soloists and orchestra sufficiently demonstrate the power of joint recollection and modern predicament.
The ‘Paman Paman’ (Sanctus) and ‘Noombapee-ngeeye’ (Kyrie) movements featured expertly crystallised stillness. These moments-like many movements-had the audience members around me gasp at their conclusion. This is a sign of communication achieved for any composer.
Throughout, nineteen new artworks created by Gundtijmara, Yorta Yorta and Wemba Wemba man Tom Day projected above the stage added yet another dimension to the new church of combined musical forces on stage. The decades of violence and battle for land from colonists, whalers, local white men and border police which almost wiped out the Gunditjmara people and regularly killed men, women and children.
Aspects of this relentless, now public history are vividly depicted in Day’s artworks. Seen in silent but powerful conjunction with the sounds from this nouveau-requiem incarnation they are a dazzling visual partner to the humanity and education present in the sung text.
Australia is changing, owning its ongoing violent seizures of land and destruction of ancient peoples in the past. Necessary reversal of ignorance here is assisted through the directness and refusal of vague rhetoric which well-crafted music can provides in commanding performance such as this.
This modern Australian requiem received a standing-ovation for its premiere in Sydney,during the SSO’s 2024 season. Its helps turn compositional tradition for choral music on its head. The work’s delicate power gently forces us to look back and to the future in a more productive version of harmony.
