THE SOUND OF THUNDER (A hidden river)
Five Short Blasts, Canberra International Music Festival, Canberra, 2025.
The Sound of Thunder (A Hidden River) is a work for voice and looper that explores the origins of the Molonglo River - which runs through Ngambri and Ngunnawal Country (Canberra, Australia). It comments on the layers of history that now lay hidden under the man-made ornamental Lake Burley Griffin in the heart of Australia's capital.
In the 1960's a section of the Molonglo was damed to make way for a 'beautiful body of water' to unite the city, with disregard to the beautiful river, sacred Aboriginal sites, wetlands and floodplain that had existed there for thousands of years.
Inspired by the sounds of Country, the vocal lines and melodies of the piece are shaped by local bird calls and vocal interpretations of environmental sounds, with lyric poem taking inspiration from traditional language names of water catchments and quotes from prominent politicians and developers at the time of the lake's development.
Blending Aboriginal cultural concepts and story with Western compositional techniques the whisperings of the river and Australia’s "colonial project" cycle throughout the piece, to remind us of the history of place, and the silence of the river, hidden under lake. Scored here for performance with multitrack loop station, the piece may also be performed without or with
pre-recorded loops played back as accompaniment.
Originally commissioned through 'A Major Lift' for the 2024 Canberra International Music Festival, Australia and written for a premiere performance by mezzo Lotte Betts-Dean.
Vocal loops
Composed, written and performed by Nicole Smede
Recorded & mixed by Matt Barnes
Featured in Five Short Blasts by Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphries