Margaret Sutherland: The Young Kabbarli (1964) - Interlude

Abstract

The Young Kabbarli was composed in 1964, and received its first performance at the Theatre Royal, Hobart, on 19 August 1965. This disc is a re-release of a recording produced in 1973 made by the cast of Intimate Opera (later State Opera) of South Australia. The libretto was written by Lady Maie Casey. Daisy Bates cared passionately about the welfare of the Aboriginal people, and devoted the last fifty or so years of her life to their cause. She worked with Aborigines on a day-to-day basis within their community; she also worked on their behalf at state and federal government levels, and through her controversial and widelypublicised opinions and writings. Her book The Passing of the Aborigines is a moving tribute to the people she knew so well, and for whose future she held great fears. She was known among the Aborigines as 'the young Kabbarli' - the young Grandmother. Hotspur Gillian Whitehead Hotspur was commissioned by Musicon, with funds from Northern Arts, and was written while Fleur Adcock (librettist) and Gillian Whitehead were both Fellows of the University of Newcastleupon- Tyne. Decorative banners by Gretchen Albrecht were commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Wellington. The first performance was at Durham, by the Gemini ensemble, conducted by Peter Weigold, with Margaret Field (soprano), on 1 February 1981. Daisy Bates - 'the young Kabbarli' - was born in Ireland in 1863. She came to Australia in 1884 and married Jack Bates, a drover, the following year. Ten years later she left Bates and returned to England, where she worked as a journalist. She returned to Australia in 1899, and until her death in 1951 lived in the far outback of Western and South Australia. Daisy Bates cared passionately about the welfare of the Aboriginal people, and devoted the last fifty or so years of her life to their cause. She worked with Aborigines on a day-to-day basis within their community; she also worked on their behalf at state and federal government levels, and through her controversial and widely-publicised opinions and writings. Her Book the Passing of the Aborigines is a moving tribute to the people she knew so well, and for whose future she held great fears. She was known among the Aborigines as 'the young Kabbarli' - the young Grandmother. Show more