Ancient & New (No. 1)

Ancient & New is presented and discussed here in two forms, a studio recording and live performance Ancient & New is the first composition of the Yabun Yaguna series , it musically depicts my feelings of enthused anticipation in planning the initial collaborations with Aboriginal performers. In anticipation of associating with and experiencing something of the Aboriginal sensibilities of Sydney through the historic chants, I included two cultural spiritual themes that are part of my spiritual culture – ‘Love Our Light’ and ‘O Sacrum Convivium’. My spiritual culture is Roman Catholic, and therefore is connected with the Christian ritual the mass. The juxtaposition of the Aboriginal chants with my Catholic themes creates an interesting tension, evident in the studio recording. Ancient & New portrays sounds of initial efforts by people of European heritage to learn Aboriginal language in an attempt to understand more about the first peoples’ cultures. We naturally imagine this image is associated with the first contact in 1788 at Farm Cove, the first fleet journal writers, W. Dawes, D. Collins and W. Tench, and those that followed. The music settings are effective if the subjects of reference are the people of European heritage in today’s yaguna Sydney community. Scored for both Aboriginal voices and European voices, the piece was planned to exhibit a successful union between the cultures. The Aboriginal voices and clapping sticks are not present in the studio recording which adds to a vulnerability in the sound of the European voices, as they adapt awkwardly to new (old) Aboriginal words, especially coo-ee. The atmosphere of the piece is altogether different in the live performance which includes the Aboriginal lead voice, clapping sticks and dance of Clarence Slockee, depicting an active fusion of cultures.

Music which depicts European spiritual ritual, flowing Sydney water, wind and storms and Aboriginal chants are interwoven throughout Yabun Yaguna, Wuganmagulya No.1, Ancient & New. The music for vibraphone and Stuart piano is written to exhibit the tonal contrasts and similarities of both instruments. The metallic characteristics of the vibraphone sound blends with the stable sustain of the Stuart sound. Both the vibraphone and piano music is improvised in sections. Daryl Praat and myself are experienced improvisers. Darryl also adds the percussive sounds of the thunder sheet and rain stick.

Score: mm.1-52. Studio rec: 00 – 3:57 ; Live performance footage: 00 – 04:01
The elements water, wind, storms are depicted in the music of the introduction, portraying commonplace routine interaction of the natural environment before colonization. A European Christian spiritual theme Love Our Light is improvised on the piano and vibraphone, against a background of elemental sounds. The metre of the theme transitions from rubato free metre to 5/8 (mm.9; perf.2:00; std.rec 1:59).