Hearing an original composition brought to life by a full orchestra is a special moment for any musician. Sunshine Coast composer Clifford Bradley has experienced that thrill before, but the premiere of his first complete symphony, Images of the Sunshine Coast, marks a new milestone when it is performed at The Events Centre, Caloundra, on Sunday, 13 September.
Clifford’s love of orchestral music began at four, when his father took him to see the original Star Wars. John Williams’ sweeping score stayed with him.
Music was already part of family life. His mother played piano at their local church, while his father played trumpet and regularly filled the house with records.
By 10 or 11, Clifford was learning guitar and his obsession with guitarists like Mark Knopfler, Eddie Van Halen, Jeff Beck and Sting, followed.
After school, he studied classical music at the University of Queensland and changed from electric to classical guitar. There, he fell in love with writing for an orchestra and began to see a path towards film music.
After returning from London, Clifford joined the Sunshine Coast Symphony Orchestra as a violinist. He began creating arrangements and short compositions for the ensemble, followed by an overture inspired by the Glass House Mountains.
That work planted the seed for something larger: a complete symphony celebrating the Sunshine Coast.
The overture became the first movement of Images of the Sunshine Coast. Its central melody came from a bird Clifford heard each morning while living at Dicky Beach.
“It had this really catchy little tune of six or seven notes,” he said. “I thought it would be wonderful to incorporate into a piece of music.”
He believes the song belonged to a local butcherbird, whose calls can differ between locations and be passed on to younger birds. The symphony opens with a clarinet carrying its melody.
“It gives the music a close connection to the Sunshine Coast because it is literally a local bird singing its local song.”
Drawing on information shared by local first nation man Kerry Neill and his own research, Clifford explored the Kabi Kabi stories associated with the Glass House Mountains. The music evokes the ancient mountains, the natural life upon them and the landscape awakening at sunrise.
The second movement follows rain falling across the hinterland and gathering into streams before flowing into the Maroochy River.
A broad, sweeping theme reflects the river’s size and beauty, while a livelier passage recalls its history as a transport route carrying people, mail and timber between Yandina and the coast.
The third movement turns to the ocean, capturing its mystery and immense underlying strength. Gentle waves give way to a storm sequence informed by Clifford’s childhood memories of seeing the wreck of the Cherry Venture, and later living near the remains of the SS Dicky.
“Those wrecks are permanent reminders of the ocean’s power,” he said. “It can be a lovely clear day, but that can all change.”
The final movement, Sunshine Coast Sunset, returns to the butcherbird’s call. After travelling through the mountains, river and ocean, the symphony comes home as daylight fades. Earlier musical themes reappear before the orchestra rises into a grand fanfare.
The symphony ends with a grand tribute to the splendour of the Glass House Mountains, standing like ancient giants and watching eternally over the Sunshine Coast.
Images of the Sunshine Coast will premiere on Sunday, 13 September as part of Symphonic Horizons at The Events Centre, Caloundra.
Glasshouse Mountains image by Greg Barnett @geebeemedia
