Australian Music Centre | Breaking sound barriers

Work Overview

Song of the Wombat depicts a day in the life of a wombat. The day begins, and he [Momo] is snoozing away, dreaming about things. Then he wakes up and starts to search for a burrow. Then he falls back to sleep again, snores for a while, and then Rachel has a direction to play the next section as 'wombat jazz', so in my imagination, he's getting dressed, getting ready for his day to go out, putting his top hat on… and the last section of the piece is another burrowing section in which it's a bit more frenetic, and then he just disappears down the burrow." - Jack Schiller, Principal Bassoon, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Work Details

Year: 2020

Instrumentation: Bassoon.

Duration: 3 min.

Dedication note: For Jack Schiller (Bassoon) and Momo the Wombat

Commission note: Commissioned by Deborah Shnookal for the Central Victoria Wildlife Hospital, 2020

Song of the Wombat was initially commissioned in 2020 by Deborah Shnookal, but was not able to be performed live until November 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The commission was for a fundraising concert for the Central Victorian Wildlife Hospital, performed by Jack, and dedicated to Momo the wombat, who has since been happily released back into the wild!