The Stars of Eureka was commissioned by Caulfield Grammar in 2012 as part of the song cycle ‘Eureka’, written about the 1854 Eureka Stockade at the goldfields of Ballarat Victoria. This is the final piece in the trilogy which includes Child of the Goldfield and Sampan.
“For this piece I studied not only the Eureka Stockade but also great moments in history where liberty prevailed over tyranny, of which there are many. I read the work of Nelson Mandela, Aung san Suu Kyi, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and the Dalai Llama. I also studied the great documents on liberty itself for which my favourite three are Thomas Paine’s ‘The Age of Reason”, John Stuart Mill’s ‘On Liberty’, and the ‘Areopagitica’ by John Milton.” – Paul Jarman
If these documents were adopted by all cultures the world would live in peace.
Sample recording courtesy of Hillcrest Christian College Choir, directed by Jenny Moon