Composer’s note

Waratah (for SATB choir, brass and percussion) was commissioned by Sydney Philharmonia Choirs for performance at the Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, on 7th July 2001, under the direction of Brett Weymark.

The work, a setting of Roland Robinson’s poem ‘Waratah’, concerns a flower which, sprung from Eden earth, burns amidst drenched depths of blue-grey bush.

When composing the music, I found inspiration in the poet’s contrasting images. His description of the waratah as a fierce and holy flower suggested to me both savage and sanctified musical ideas, as did his image of a misted, mauve-grey light glistening through crowding depths of fronds and spears and blades.

A waterfall, spilling from fern-hung heights, inspired the cascading music which flows to my setting of the final verse, wherein, the waratah is left to burn on, through the centuries, in the bush and rain.


Matthew Orlovich,
Composer.

Instrumentation

4 horns in F (also available: brass band version using 1 Bb flugelhorn and 3 Eb tenor horns)
2 trumpets in Bb
2 tenor trombones
1 bass trombone
1 tuba
2 percussion
- player 1: Tubular Bells;
- player 2: 4 Tom Toms (tuned high to low) with snare drum sticks
choir (SATB)