This work was commissioned in 2002 for performance by Brisbane Chorale, directed by Christopher Kiver. Scored for a cappella SATB choir, the work is a setting of John Kinsella’s poem “Child Sightings”.

The poet reflects on the vastness of the outback sky and the experience of seeing phenomena such as showers of light and shooting stars coming down and lighting up the earth. In composing my musical setting, I have taken inspiration from the poet’s depiction of an expansive and energised landscape and his creative mind’s attempt to understand the mysteries of nature through the senses.

Born in 1963, John Kinsella grew up in Perth, Western Australia. He attended high school in suburban Perth and studied Arts and History at the University of Western Australia. With his family, he maintained close ties with the pioneering farming areas to the west of Perth. Over a short span of years, his writings have quickly brought him to international prominence, and he has many major literary awards and prizes to his credit.

I would like to thank John Kinsella and Bloodaxe Books for granting me permission to set music to the poem.

Matthew Orlovich,
Composer.