Traditional Indigenous singing is, with few exceptions, short, repetitive and very rhythmic.
Gurrumul's parting gift is a "hugely significant" contribution to Australian music.
It's closely related to modern orchestral minimalism – think Philip Glass and Koyaanisqatsi, Peter Greenaway's films with Michael Nyman scores, and the music of composers such as Steve Reich and Arvo Part.
It
was a sudden flash of inspiration that led Michael Hohnen, the
producer/arranger behind the work of the late Yolgnu singer Gurrumul
Yunupingu, to contemplate bringing these two traditions together.
"What
if we tried to match the highest sophisticated levels of our musical
expression – which for the last several hundred years has been
orchestral – with the traditional," Hohnen says.Gurrumul's final gift: Australia's most original recording?