Work
Triptych (War Letters)
for soprano, mezzo-soprano and bass voices, viola, percussion and piano
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About
Triptych (War Letters) begins with letters written by Frank Nestor Robinson, my great-uncle, to one of his sisters, Ellie, my grandmother, as he left New Zealand to fight in Gallipoli. They tell of enlisting, waiting for action, and the realisation, in Egypt, that where he is to be sent is a field of fierce fighting and death and he will either be one of the lucky or unlucky ones. He was one of the unlucky ones. The middle part is a December 1969 excerpt from the war diary of David Wilkins who served with Australian forces in Vietnam. He and his troop are not getting a Christmas break, are fed up, and about to embark on a 7 week operation. And the third part sets excerpts of Andrew Hastie's emails (modern war letters) sent home while serving for Australia in Afghanistan in 2009, which move between descriptions of events and personal thoughts.
Contents note
Three movements:
- Gallipoli Letter: Ellie (Frank Robinson)
- Vietnam Diary: Great bloody Xmas break (David Wilkins)
- Afghan emails: Bread and kids (Andrew Hastie)
Text note
- Frank Robinson
- David Wilkins
- Andrew Hastie