FLINDERS QUARTET
Elizabeth Sellars • violin
Wilma Smith • violin
Helen Ireland • viola
Zoe Knighton • cello

AGATHA YIM, POLYPHONIC PICTURES filming and editing
THOMAS GRUBB, MANO MUSICA sound engineering, editing and mastering

Filmed October 2025 in the Primrose Potter Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre, Wurundjeri Country/Southbank

This project was made possible through support from Creative Victoria, City of Melbourne and FQ’s Fifth String donors

DEBORAH CHEETHAM FRAILLON (b. 1964)
Bungaree (composed 2020)

Commissioned by Flinders Quartet with support from Andrew Dixon, in memory of Jean and John Dixon

I. November 24
II. Kaaroo
III. Navigating the Truth

Flinders Quartet is named after Flinders Street Station: the iconic Melbourne landmark, but therefore, inadvertently also named after Matthew Flinders. When we asked Deborah Cheetham Fraillon to write us a new string quartet she immediately found that new research had come to light about Bungaree (or Boongaree), a Kuringgai man who was vital in helping Matthew Flinders circumnavigate the Australian continent on the Investigator. Flinders remarked that he was impressed with Bungaree’s friendly demeanour, bravery and intuition; and apparently, Bungaree seemed to have had quite an affection for Flinders’ cat, Trim. There is a statue of Trim in Australia, but no statue of Bungaree. This is a musical monument of a man whose story deserves to be remembered.

In 1815, Governor Lachlan Macquarie dubbed Bungaree “Chief of the Broken Bay Tribe” and presented him with 15 acres of land on George’s Head in Sydney. He was also known by the titles “King of Port Jackson” and "King of the Blacks”, with his principal wife, Kaaroo (named Cora Gooseberry by the British) known as his queen.

Bungaree continued his exploratory voyages with Captain Phillip Parker King to north-western Australia in 1817 on the Mermaid; and Captain Faddei Bellingshausen made reference to Bungaree’s welcoming visit to the Russian exploration ship Vostok in 1820. Bungaree died in November 1830 and is buried in Rose Bay. By the end of his life, he had become a familiar sight in Colonial Sydney, often dressed in uniforms that had been given to him for his service. He had a gift for humour and mimicry (particularly of past and present governors) and was a popular subject for portrait painters, with no less than 18 portraits. His were among the first full-length oil portraits to be painted in the colony and the first to be published as a lithograph.

The first movement of Cheetham Fraillon’s “Bungaree” begins with a musical depiction of his name in the cello. This is particularly pertinent as his name would not have been said out loud after his death. There’s a stillness which gives way to shimmering arpeggiated figures under a melody with strength and assuredness. A little four note figure which is a ray of hope is used as a unifying motif through the three movements. The second movement is entitled “Kaaroo”, and represents his wife’s beauty and strength of character. The third movement is entitled “Navigating the Truth” as we look towards the future. “Bungaree” has been recorded by Flinders Quartet for ABC Classics and is available on Women of Note, Vol. 5.