Sanctuary

Sanctuary (2021)

Duration: approx. 9 minutes 30 seconds

Difficulty- Moderate to Advanced

Download includes full score and complete set of performance parts.

In early 2021, I visited the Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary with Simone Slattery. I was vaguely familiar with the area, having visited the St Kilda mangroves and adventure playground in my youth as part of Primary school excursions. I was, however, completely unaware of the significance of the surrounding land, now a National Park founded in 2016: first, to the 27,000 or more migratory shorebirds who call it home for a few months every year, and secondly, to the Northern Kaurna people, for whom the park offers a place of refuge and a plentiful food source.

The landscape in this part of the country is deceptive in its beauty and fertility. What appears to be plain or even unattractive to some, is in fact a place of rest, peace and rejuvenation to the countless birds who make their annual pilgrimage here. The ‘ugly’, ‘smelly’ mangroves nearby hold great spiritual significance to the local Kaurna people, forming a part of their burial rituals and celebrations of the circle of life. These trees are unattractive by worldly standards. Their beauty and significance lie in the elements that make them undesirable- their smell, their hardiness. In a similar way, the plain and non-descript appearance of the shorebirds cause them to merge into their habitat. Their lack of attention seeking belies the incredible journey they take each and every year. This is a special, important and necessary place for them. Sadly, it is one that has been overlooked and disregarded; to the detriment of the environment, the birds, and our culture’s connection with land as sacred and holy space.

Sanctuary is modelled on the cycle repeated by the visiting shorebirds. It follows a narrative of rest, feeding, and flight, punctuated by a pizzicato-accompanied interlude shared between the violin and cello. The simple tonal material is developed and explored in ways which reflect upon the idea of beauty and nourishment being found in simple, foundational material and places. It resists the flashy and virtuosic in favour of grounded harmonies, artless melodic motifs, and communal interplay between the two instruments. Throughout the work, I am contemplating the question ‘what makes a place special’, and re-examining my own perceptions of natural space, stillness, and reverence.