'Momentous' Eumeralla: A dark past, a hopeful future

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'Momentous' Eumeralla: A dark past, a hopeful future

By Maxim Boon

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Eumeralla: a War Requiem for Peace

Hamer Hall, June 15.

★★★★

When discussing the arts, the word “important” is often bandied about, to the point that its meaning has become rather cliché. However, in the case of composer and soprano Deborah Cheetham’s Eumeralla: a War Requiem for Peace, it’s a descriptor that feels entirely justified, in more ways than one.

Firstly, there’s the importance of its scale. Featuring a substantial orchestra, multiple choirs and three vocal soloists (Cheetham, alongside mezzo Linda Barcan and baritone Don Bemrose), newly penned Australian works of this magnitude are not so much rare as they are unheard of.

A triumph: Deborah Cheetham performs her 'Eumeralla: a War Requiem for Peace’s' with the MSO.

A triumph: Deborah Cheetham performs her 'Eumeralla: a War Requiem for Peace’s' with the MSO.Credit: Laura Manariti

Then there’s the importance of its execution, which saw members of the MSO and its chorus shoulder to shoulder with a wonderfully diverse array of performers, including students from Melbourne Conservatorium, players from Melbourne Youth Orchestra, and singers from the Consort of Melbourne and Dhungala Children’s Choir.

Most important of all is Eumeralla’s substance. Using the Requiem mass as a scaffold, deeply moving poetry by Cheetham, translated into Gunditjmara dialects, traced a history of heartbreak and horror, memorialising the atrocities inflicted by colonial settlers upon the indigenous population. And yet, in its fusion of Western classical tradition and First Nations culture, Eumeralla also spoke of resilience and reconciliation, looking hopefully towards a shared future while acknowledging a dark past.

Pieces of similarly monumental scope often undergo post-premiere revisions, and corners of Eumeralla’s music could benefit from some additional finesse. Nonetheless, the artistic and cultural value of this work will no doubt mark it in the annals of Australian music as a composition of major significance.

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