The Australian recorder player Jo Dudley commissioned this brief, virtuosic solo.
Ulpirra is an Aboriginal word meaning pipe or flute. It has been performed and recorded on many different treble instruments apart from the recorder: piccolo, flute, oboe, B-flat and E-flat clarinets, a special version for bass clarinet with handclapping accompaniment in Enyato IV, and soprano or alto saxophone.
Being short and snappy it is especially useful as an encore piece for recitals.
Commissioned by The Clarinet & Saxophone Society of Victoria for the 2011 Australian Clarinet & Saxophone Festival Competition.
“Sacred Country” , Tharawal Country, the South Coast of New South Wales, sacred to the Aboriginal people of the Tharawal nation, to poet Roland Robinson, and to composer Dindy Vaughan, who was born and raised there.
An area covered with sacred rock carvings, bushland, creeks and streams; a land singing its essence, shouting its freedom, vibrating with energy. Country encircling, embracing, containing; soothing with tenderness. Echoing, reverberating, radiating mystery; mind captive, soul stilled. Creation shines in the Eternal Present.
