Description
Duration 4:10 min
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The Woolshed is a piece I started writing a number of years ago when I was living in California. My young children would come home from school having learnt all manner of American folk songs and tales, and I wanted to balance things out with some Australian folk music. I was also feeling quite homesick at the time, and a very strange patriotism comes over you when you are far from home! I don't think I've ever yelled "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" in real life, but somehow it made it into this.
It took me a very long time to find the right name for the piece. After a trip to Barcaldine, Winton and Longreach in outback Queensland, it dawned on me that the opening themes evoked the hustle and bustle of a shearing shed. The subsequent snippets of folk songs (Ryebuck Shearer and Waltzing Matilda) heard in the lyrical section represent the humour and the tragedy of shearing life. - Claire Petherick
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Instrumentation: Picc, Flute 1 2, Oboe, Bassoon, Bb Clarinet 1 2 3, Bass Clarinet, Alto Sax 1 2, Tenor Sax, Baritone Sax, F Horn 1 2, Trumpet 1 2 3, Trombone, Euphonium BC & TC, Tuba, Timp, Sn Dr, Tenor Dr, Bass Dr, Wind Chimes, Cymbals (Sus and Cr), Triangle, Tamb, Glock, Marimba,