Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Benjamin Northey, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs - Eumeralla, a war requiem for peace (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024) (2025) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: I. O Pernmeeyal (Requiem) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
02. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: II. Deen nganang warrakeeleek (Dies irae) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
03. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: III. Wanga-n-wanoong (Tuba mirum) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
04. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: IV. Kooyeen-wanoong (Liber scriptus) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
05. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: V. Tyookooyong-ee (Agnus Dei) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
06. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: VI. Tarrameek-tarrameek-kee-ngeeye (Libera me) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
07. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: VII. Nganya laka wangoong (Quid sum miser) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
08. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: VIII. Deen ngootyoong meereeng (Rex tremendae) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
09. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: IX. Pang ngutee-kee-weeng (Recordare) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
10. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: X. Ngarnda wanoong (Ingemisco) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
11. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: XI. Tamboorawananga-n-eeye (Confutatis) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
12. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: XII. Deen nganang weerakaleeyt (Lacrimosa) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
13. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: XIII. Yakeen-aya meereeng (Domine Jesu Christe) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
14. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: XIV. Pernmeeyal (Hostias) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
15. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: XV. Paman paman (Sanctus) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
16. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: XVI. Ngatanwarr (Benedictus) - Paman Paman Reprise (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
17. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: XVII. Moongay wata keenanpa nganang walawa (Lux aeterna) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
18. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: XVIII. Noombapee-ngeeye (Kyrie) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)
19. Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace: XIX. O Pernmeeyal (Requiem) (Recorded live in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on 11 September 2024)

ABC Classic is honoured to present the world premiere recording of celebrated Yorta Yorta / Yuin soprano-composer Deborah Cheetham Fraillon’s Eumeralla, a war requiem for peace. This is a unique and profoundly moving work that seeks to honour the Gunditjmara people who lost their lives defending their land on the battlefields at Eumeralla, and to help being healing and a lasting peace to the spirits of those who fell.

Few Australians outside the Aboriginal community are aware of Eumeralla – just a little over four hours south-west of Melbourne – and the brutal resistance war fought there. It is more than 170 years since the last shots rang out there but the land, says Cheetham Fraillon, is not silent:

‘I first walked on this battlefield in 2013. I felt it right away. I was moved and I was disturbed. Given the chance to camp on that land I could not sleep or find rest. The voices of those lost were so loud I couldn’t stay for more than one night. It woke something in me and my immediate response was music. A song, a Requiem. A War Requiem.’

Crucial to the strength of the work is the language in which it is sung. Following the structure of the traditional Christian Requiem mass, the Latin text has been translated into Gunditjmara dialects by senior Gunditjmara language custodian Vicki Couzens and linguist Travers Eira. It has also been transformed, to honour 70,000 years of ceremony: ‘Whilst the structure and purpose of the traditional mass served my purpose,’ says Cheetham Fraillon, ‘the substance and spirituality needed to be taken further.’

Eumeralla, a war requiem for peace is designed for non-Indigenous Australians to sing alongside Indigenous brothers and sisters, and this performance, recorded live in the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House, features Deborah Cheetham Fraillon herself as the soprano soloist, with Indigenous mezzo-soprano Jess Hitchcock and New Zealand-born Australian bass Jud Arthur.

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