Paul Stanhope turns Indigenous legend into choral hero.

Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House

July 16, 2014

The main item on the agenda here was the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s major commission for the year – Jandamarra: Sing for the Country, an epic choral cantata on the legends surrounding the leader of a 19th-century Indigenous revolt in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Paul Stanhope was the composer tasked with collaborating with writer Steve Hawke, son of a noticeably proud Bob and the late Hazel (one of the works dedicatees). The other crucial partner was the Bunuba people, custodians of the Jandamarra story.

Jandamarra was a warrior of the Bunuba who, after initially helping the police track down and kill members of his own community, decided to change sides and lead an uprising against the settlers appropriating Aboriginal land. Famed in legend as a shape shifter who could turn invisible to avoid pursuit, he was eventually hunted down and shot after the authorities enlisted the aid of a fellow Indigenous tracker.

Stanhope and his collaborators have spent much time in the Kimberley, learning the stories and music at first hand in order to combine local culture with a symphony orchestra, actors, a substantial choir...