Composer Rob Davidson has set Julia Gilliard’s famous “Not now. Not ever!” speech of October 9, 2012 as a piece of choral music and it looks set to become as popular worldwide as the original.

Gordon Hamilton and Australian Voices launched their performance on YouTube earlier today and it has already had over 1500 hits, garnering 73 thumbs up (as opposed to 3 thumbs down).

“Rob had already turned PM Kevin Rudd’s historic apology speech into a fantastic work for The Australian Voices, and we naturally looked next to Gillard’s defining moment in parliament,” said Artistic Director Gordon Hamilton.

“It struck me that behind the politics there was a lot of personal feeling being communicated,” said composer Rob Davidson. “I wanted to put a frame around this slice of time, to heighten my perception of what was being said behind the words, in the intonation of the voice, and in the dynamics of what was being said in interjections and reactions.”

There were a number of challenges in lining up the speech with live singing, according to the participants. The composer had to precisely notate the rhythm and melody ‘sung’ by Gillard in the speech. After learning it, the ensemble aligned it with...