Jodie Blackshaw (b. 1971) is an Australian composer, educator, and thinker. She has spent her career intertwining composition and education as closely as possible through the music she has written and the extensive resources she produces for each piece. She calls this intersection “Classtrumental music.” She arrived at this practice through close work with all kinds of students in remote areas, and their ensembles that often demanded a flexible approach to instrumentation and ability level. She credits Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory and the Orff-Schulwerk approach to music education as other major influences. The Australian Music Centre offers a colorful take on her and her music:

Have you ever played a ‘Blackshaw’ with your school band or wind ensemble? If you have, then you know that a work by this Australian composer-educator is different from the norm. You will also know that it takes you, the Director, on an alternate educational pathway that, for some, is a little uncomfortable at first. That said, you would also know that it is a surprise package, an audience favourite, and presents you with interesting conducting challenges. After performing it you realise that your students have ‘got a lot out of it’ and that it was one of the most engaging music making experiences of your academic year.

Read even more about her at the Australian Music Centre, GIA Music, C. Alan Publications, and her outstanding website.

Blackshaw wrote Into the Sun on a commission from the Western Sydney Public School Concert Band for PULSE 2013. Her score and her website (seriously, GO HERE) contain so much richly valuable detail about the piece and its background that it seems foolish to create my own resource. But I will begin by presenting her initial program note from the score, a mere half-page of the 5 pages of frontmatter (links added by me):

Into the Sun is a scrapbook of stories told by many of their passage to Australia; whether it be as free settlers in the 1800s, post World War II immigrants or refugees seeking asylum with a focus on those who came to the Western Sydney region. It is roughly in six sections:

I – ARRIVAL
The piece begins looking through the eyes of a 6 year old child in the late 1940’s. She is with her Mother and Father when after a 6 week voyage she see the lights of Sydney for the very first time:

“The first time I saw the coloured lights of Sydney I thought it was like a fairy tale. During the war in Germany, there were no lights at all, least of all coloured lights… we walked down the steps from the ship and I stepped onto the soil and I thought, ‘May we all be very happy and may we have lots of luck.'” Helen Simanowsky, Ukraine, first arrived 1948

II – A NEW LAND, A NEW LIFE
Once on Australian soil, a train or bus took people to a migrant camp. Imagine finding yourself on a train with hundreds of strangers, few possessions, little money and completely surrounded by a foreign landscape. Here you may hear the sound of the train, coloured with a feeling of trepidation.

III – CAMPS & CONFUSION
Western Sydney housed immigrants in St. Marys, Windsor, and often the train travelled through the region to the Bathurst Migrant Camp. People lived in basic accommodation previously used for Army personnel during the War. For many, arriving to these camps brought anxiety and sorrow; married couples were separated and men were sent to work shortly after their arrival.

“We arrived at Bathurst at 7am but not to the town’s railway station, we were out in the bush! It was the camp for the soldiers during the war. We saw bush, magpies whistling, crows whistling and we said ‘oh my God, where have we come?'” Rozalina Cetinich, Slovenia, first arrived 1949

IV – ACCULTURATION: A YEARNING FOR HOME AND ALL THAT IS FAMILIAR
For anyone who migrates to a new country there is a time of acculturation; the process of adapting to a new way of life. This was documented in the poetry of Australian born Emily Matilda Manning in the 1800’s for it seems even then, new free settlers to Australia were referred to as ’emigrants’:

“Why did I leave my home, Mother? I was wilful, and thoughtless, and wild –
I long’d to be free, a woman I’d be! Yet I weep as a motherless child.

I’m no one’s daughter or pet, mother, But ‘one of the emigrants’ here.
I must do my duty, and work, without One friend to counsel or cheer.”

V – OPPORTUNITY: WITH NEW FOUND ENTHUSIASM
Whilst the initial experience is one of shock and hardship, many people have created a very good life for themselves in Australia. This includes the more recent arrival of refugees from a vast range of countries. When refugee Anisa Memari arrived in Australia in 2002, she was able to reach her full potential through hard work and quality schooling. In the words of Anisa, “Here in Australia, I am able to dream.” The music in this section returns to the sound of trains to symbolize positive change, another journey in a whole different direction.

VI – REFLECTION: WITH A FEELING OF INNER PEACE AND CALMNESS
Whilst the journey has been challenging for many, Australia has afforded a new life that is both rewarding and prosperous. Hence the opening indigenous-inspired sounds return, as does the initial melody although it is slightly altered to represent the change endured in such a life.

Listen:

There’s plenty to unpack in this piece. First, Blackshaw asks for the sound of a didgeridoo on the tubas at the beginning of the piece. That would sound something like this:

And be reproduced as such on the tuba:

To be clear, both players are essentially buzzing in their instruments while modulating their air speed and moving their lips and tongue around to alter the sound quality. They are also likely vocalizing through their instruments while continuing to buzz for the most extreme effects.

Into the Sun also calls for a lagerphone. If you don’t know what that is, watch this incredible video and you’ll never forget:

I should emphasize: Blackshaw provides SO MUCH MORE information about this piece both in her score and on her website. Be sure to check both out! If you need more, also investigate these resources at C. Alan Publications, J. W. Pepper, Brolga Music, the Australian Music Centre, and the Wind Repertory Project.