The Canberra Choral Society (CCS) welcomed the arrival of Spring with Songs of Open Country, in Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest on Saturday 4 October at 6 pm.
This specially curated concert, under the direction of Dan Walker, CCS Music Director, with Dr Anthony Smith on piano, featured beautifully evocative choral music that celebrated the wonders of nature and the deep connections and resonance with human experience.
Traditional Icelandic and Appalachian songs sat alongside a rich variety of contemporary works. David Childs’ setting of Emily Dickinson’s poem The Moon is Distant from the Sea, Lili Boulanger’s lovely Hymne au Soleil (‘Hymn to the Sun’), and Elaine Hagenberg’s exuberant setting of Leonora Speyer’s poem Measure Me, Sky! portrayed diverse colours and moods.
Ola Gjeilo’s Tundra with vivid lyrics by Charles Anthony Silvestri transported listeners to the intensely still, frozen beauty of Norway’s far north.
Australian voices sang through the landscape. Dan Walker’s own You, Me and the Wide Open Sky (lyrics with Luke Byrne), Daniel Brinsmead’s setting of American poet Joyce Kilmer’s poem Trees, and selections from Michael Dooley’s Songs from the High Country, commissioned in 2022 for CCS’s 70th anniversary, all evoked a strong sense of place and belonging.
From film and stage came new choral arrangements by Dan Walker of Burt Bacharach’s South American Getaway (from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) and ‘Where?’ from The Rabbits, by Kate Miller-Heidke with Iain Grandage.
“Music has such a wonderful ability to evoke a sense of place, telling stories of vast landscapes, and the celestial forces that shape them,” says Dan Walker. “This is a program that asks you to pause, to listen, to let the world in. It was both intimate and expansive, brought to life by a dedicated choir and the extraordinary artistry of Anthony Smith.”
Songs of Open Country was an evening to be moved, to be uplifted and to retain the echo of the music long after the final note faded.
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