Guyguyyun for Didgeridoo/Concert Band

Guyguyyun is a word from the Wangurri language, one of the many languages from the indigenous population of Australia. It means both 'play music' as 'the sound of fun'.

The composition Guyguyyun was composed in 2022 for the combination of a solo didgeridoo with wind orchestra and was commissioned by Muziekvereniging De Phoenix in Wateringen in The Netherlands.

By nature of the didgeridoo there sounds only one note, in this piece 'C', though with many harmonics. That note has an important role in this composition.

The piece has a three-part structure. The opening movement starts with a long inprovisation on the didgeridoo.

Then the percussion starts, followed by the brass instruments playing blocklike motives which are at last joined by the woodwinds.

The middle movement has a lyrical character and starts again with a didgeridoo solo, followed by a chanting melody in the oboe.

The fast and rhythmical third movement is interrupted by an intermezzo where the grond note C and its harmonics return in the wind instruments and the melodic percussion. The rythmic theme returns and leads towards a powerfull ending.