During the nineteenth century, whales in South Australia’s Encounter Bay were slaughtered to near extinction.
The empty ocean grieved for one hundred years before they began to return.
Now, each winter, mother whales bring their calves to the bay, and from the shore humans watch in wonder.
But as the ocean warms amd the ‘red tide’ of the algal bloom rises, fewer whales return,
and dead fish and other marine animals wash up on our shores.
One cycle of devastation and repair slowly resolves, another begins.
A South Australian Ocean Epic
Since 2022 I have been slowly writing Leviathan, growing from an initial small commission into a large-scale work of four movements, scored for solo and ensemble voices and chamber orchestra.
Leviathan is inspired by two events in the ocean of my home in South Australia: the nineteenth-century slaughter and gradual, but uncertain return of whales in Victor Harbor, and the recent algal bloom that spread across South Australian waters. Both are stories of the impact of human activity on our oceans, and explore two faces of hope: a naive hope that fuels destruction, and a slower, wiser hope that leads to repair.
I have been writing Leviathan slowly, one movement at a time, working with a range of South Australia’s leading musicians to present each movement in separate concert performances. We’ve performed the first three movements at the Museum, the Adelaide Town Hall and on regional tour, with support from Linda Pirie, Chamber Music Adelaide, the South Australian Museum, CreateSA, and other partners.
This deep, slow development has given me time to develop the work’s intricate sound world and collaborate with a range of creative people to explore initial costuming, movement, and a bespoke responsive multimedia pilot. When I first began writing, the narrative resolution was simpler: whales were finally returning to the harbor. As I’ve been writing the work, the world has darkened, the ocean has become quite literally murkier, and I have adapted the work to reflect this.
I’ve cherished seeing South Australian audiences respond to these movement-by-movement performances, building a sense of connection and growing curiosity for where the work may lead next. This year I will complete and present the fourth movement at the SA Museum in November and then turn my imagination to bringing the full work to life for the first time.
Movement One - The Sea
for four baritone soloists, male voice choir and percussion. Premiered November 2025 SA Museum
This movement sets the work in the nineteenth century when the need for whale oil drove men across the oceans to hunt and slaughter whales. The work is masculine and muscular, with male voices and percussion centered around an orchestral bass drum. The performers sing, shout, chant and create vocal sound effects and body percussion. I was inspired by the all-in theatricality of heavy metal band Manowar’s album Gods Of War, Orff’s Catulli Carmina and the full rich sound of Russian male voice choirs to create the story. Leviathan begins with the call of the sea, then a jingoistic hymn for the industrial age, a frenzied and bloody hunt as the singers hunt the leviathan until finally the men and their whaling boat smash and sink forever. For the libretto I created a montage with fragments of nineteenth century poems to create the world of men and ocean, of misguided adventure, naive optimism and the final grief of despair, with words from John Philip Sousa, Thomas Carlyle, Charlotte Smith, Vincent Van Gogh, Lord Tennyson, A E Housman and Rudyard Kipling.
Movement Two - Elegy For A Grieving Ocean
for wind quintet, baritone soloist and percussion. Premiered November 2024 SA Museum
For one hundred years the ocean grieved. This movement was commissioned by Linda Pirie for her ensemble Windsong Quintet, and workshopped with funding from Chamber Music Adelaide. The concert version of this movement was premiered in November 2024. I wanted the expressive colours of the winds to create the juxtaposition of the constant motion of the sea with the sorrow and longing of the empty ocean.
For this performance my husband developed a realtime responsive multimedia projection using microphones to hear the sounds from the instruments, and drive elements of a projection.
Movement Three - Cana Cludhmor
for soprano and extended technique piano. Premiered Adelaide Town Hall. 2024
A mediaeval Irish story of how the first Irish harp was invented, inspired by the sound of wind through the bones of a whale skeleton. Death, music, invention, new beginnings. This movement was commissioned by Chamber Music Adelaide. In Night Whales this movement will express how human imagination and invention can create something as beautiful as a harp, or as fragile as the possibility of hope. More here… In later productions this movement will incorporate sculptural elements with animated fabric.
Movement Four - Sanctuary
featuring mezzo-soprano, and incorporating all the forces in the work.
This will express the experience of watching whales return to the Bay. The music will begin with a solo flute and mezzo-soprano, singing out in the darkness, and slowly build, adding an instrument at a time, as the sun rises, and whales and hope return. In later productions, we will add individual sound shells for each musician.
Listen
Excerpts of Elegy For A Grieving Ocean workshop session and a live recording of the concert version of Cana Cludhmor.
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