Our Don, multimedia symphonic tribute to Sir Don Bradman
Abstract
Our Don is a symphonic tribute honouring the life and sporting achievements of cricketing great, Sir Donald Bradman AC. The piece was commissioned by the State Government of South Australia, the Department of Premier and Cabinet, for performance by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
This piece brings together many months of research and collaboration with the archives, people and artists who perpetuate Sir Donald Bradman's legacy. The work is intended as a multi-media symphonic stage piece, featuring a narrator and a video collage which accompany the performances of this piece.
The work is a symphonic tribute to the life of Sir Donald, and relates the events and milestones of his cricketing career. The five movements chronicle the public and private aspects of Sir Donald's life.
The piece pays homage to Sir Don on many levels. Musically, such connections exist as the solmization of his name into a viola melody in movement 1, the quotation of birdsongs heard in Bowral, and music written by (and for) Sir Don from the 1930s, with a key structure based around keys related to his name; D major, G major, Bb Major, B minor and A major. A fugue on the Jack O'Hagan foxtrot "Our Don Bradman" (1930) appears in Movement 5, and rhythmic references to Bradman's batting average (99.94) are seen in the percussive patterns of Movement 2 (mm.2-4).