" When John Antill named his work Burragorang Dreamtime, or Ross Edwards underpinned his Missa Alchera with a constant bass drone, or Peter Sculthorpe riffed on the djilili melody in works as diverse as Port Essington, Kakadu and Dua Chant, they drew on the rhetorical capital of Aboriginal cultures to make a claim for their own indigeneity as the voices of Australia. Though the public rhetoric around these works claimed that they aimed to persuade listeners of the value of Aboriginal culture, value (through public recognition, commissions for new works, performances and recordings) was attributed to the composers and their works rather than to the cultures that ostensibly inspired them."

 

A really, excellent, thorough overview of Aboriginal artists, and those who were 'inspired' by them in Australian music history. Harris engages thoughtfully with the historical record - but keeps the focus on that rather than tangents. The three 'interludes' by Nardi Simpson, Tariki Onus and Shannon Foster inevitably steal the spotlight a bit, connecting the history to contemporary music and culture, but the scholarship is outstanding throughout. This is one of the best examples of an accessible academic text I can think of, except for the price, which makes it effectively beyond the reach of anyone without access to an institutional library. Watch out for a special, or ask your local librarian to get it in - very much worth it.