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INSTRUMENTATION!

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Flute / Piccolo
Oboe
Clarinet / Bass Clarinet!
Bassoon!

Horn in F!
Trumpet in Bb

Piano
Percussion
Timpani

Violin I*
Violin II!
Viola
Cello
Double Bass

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*Concert master has an altered part


PROGRAM NOTES"

Scenes from the Australian Wilderness

by Christopher Healey

I. Introduction
II. The Forest Critters and the Butcher Birds
III. The Snake Hunts (Birds and Wallabies)
IV. The Hunter Becomes the Hunted
V. Ascension

You are about to join the Queensland Philharmonia Orchestra for a journey through the Australian
landscape and for the story of one very unfortunate crocodile.

After a short introduction, the sounds of the Australian wilderness, and of a Queensland forest in
particular, set the scene; listen closely for the calls of the Butcher Birds in the trees, and the
chirping of forest critters amongst the trees. !

Then, moving North, we first meet the main character of this musical narrative - the crocodile skulking around his North-Queensland swamp, but hungry and in need of a feed, he soon sets out
looking for prey.!

Hoping to snap up a few of the birds digging for insects on a near river bank, he very carefully
sneaks closer, and closer (listen out for the plucked strings) and seizing the moment, he lunges!
Instead of catching any dinner however, the birds angrily take flight and swoop down to peck at the
crocodile, who slinks away back into the river.!

With a still-hungry belly, the Croc goes in pursuit of another dinner option and soon spies a small
family of wallabies hopping happily around by the river as they stop to drink. The Croc begins to
prowl. The wallabies sense something is wrong however, and when our Croc burst from the water
again, he only catches a mouthful of air, meanwhile, the wallabies hurriedly hop away into the
distance, leaving our still-hungry crocodile to go back in search of his dinner.

Next the Croc comes upon a water python slithering around in the shallows. Its a big one! But
more hungry and desperate than ever, our croc begins to stalk his prey. Little does he know that
the snake, also quite hungry, and feeling rather confident at this point in time, has spied the croc
and is having very different thoughts about how this will play out

The two clash! The croc snaps furiously at the snakes, who is too slippery and quick for him, and
the snake begins to wrap itself around the poor Croc. The battle rages on, but the poor croc has
lost the upper claw!

Sometime later, one very, very full snake slowly slithers away to find somewhere comfortable to lie
while his meal digests.

But fear not, thats not the end of our Croc; As its spirit slowly awakes, he finds a great river-to-thesky is waiting for him. No longer hungry, he decides a little exploring wont hurt, so with gentle
swishes of his tail, he swims up it into the great sky river.