One hundred years since the ending of The Great War we sing of a peace at once unattainable and everlasting, culminating in a radiant new work by Ross Edwards.

The poetry of 17th-century metaphysician John Donne and the late playwright Douglas Muecke form the twin doors to a world of remembrance and resurgence in a program framed by newly-commissioned music by three Australian composers: Ruth McCall, Ella Macens, and in his 75th year, Ross Edwards.

One century ago in Compiègne the world witnessed the end of the 'war to end all wars', hoping that humankind would not undergo again such an overwhelming catastrophe. Composers have long tried to imagine a world without war and suffering, and in luminous harmonies touch on that state beyond conflict and without end – Donne’s own vision of eternal life centres on perfection and freedom from the earthly imbalance and disorder so familiar to us in the here and now – “no noise, nor silence, but one equal music”.

Program includes
Settings of Douglas Muecke by Ruth McCall and Ella Macens (WP)
Ross Edwards new work (WP)
Settings of George Herbert and John Donne
Viktor Kalinnikov Nïñe Otpushcháyeshï