On To The Field

On to the field.jpg

'On to the field, our doom is sealed,

To conquer or be slaves;

The sun shall see our country free,

Or set upon our graves!'

With those words Timothy Hayes, an Irishman elected chairman of the Ballarat Reform League, whipped the huge crowd at the Monster Meeting into a frenzy. Hayes was pivotal to the action in the Ballarat uprising, so it seems apt to use his poem to name this work for concert band and pipe organ.

On to the Field celebrates the event which helped to bring democracy to Australia. Commissioned by the City of Melbourne, it was premiered by the Royal Australian Air Force Central Band at the Melbourne Town Hall, conducted by Squadron Leader Steve Wright.

premiereAndrew Batterham