Peter Sculthorpe – Burke & Wills Soundtrack

 

Burke & Wills is a 1985 Australian adventure film directed by Graeme Clifford, starring Jack Thompson and Nigel Havers. The film is based on the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition across Australia in 1860.

Peter Joshua Sculthorpe (29 April 1929 – 8 August 2014) was an Australian composer. Much of his music resulted from an interest in the music of countries neighboring Australia as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of Aboriginal Australian music with that of the heritage of the West. He was known primarily for his orchestral and chamber music, such as Kakadu (1988) and Earth Cry (1986), which evoke the sounds and feeling of the Australian bushland and outback. He also wrote 18 string quartets, using unusual timbral effects, works for piano, and two operas. He stated that he wanted his music to make people feel better and happier for having listened to it. He typically avoided the dense, atonal techniques of many of his contemporary composers. His work was often distinguished by its distinctive use of percussion. Burke & Wills was one of only three soundtracks he scored in his career.

1 King Of The Faeries

2 Sand Dunes

3 Wills'Variations

Wills' Variations:

3-1 The Croquet Waltz

3-2 The Grail

3-3 The Cricket Quadrille

3-4 Wills' Death

4 The Dream

Dream Sequence

5-1 Premonition

5-2 Wire Music

5-3 Dreamtime (Aboriginal)

5-4 I Dreamt I Dwelt In Marble Halls

6 Dawn Travelling

7 Burke & Wills March

8 The Search

9 Julia

10 The Gulf

11 The Coolibah Tree

12 Stars

13 Burke's Death

14 Julia Reprise

Burke & Wills Soundtrack