Originally scheduled for 2020, the world premiere of Ross Edwards’ Vespers for Mother Earth has been a long time coming. Now, it’s finally seen the light of day as the centrepiece of The Song Company’s 40th Anniversary Gala, performed in the second half of a two-part program.

The first half dived into the pool of works commissioned by The Song Company across its 40-year history and surfaces with 10 quite varied, bite-sized Australian pieces, capped by one world premiere (and, forgivably, one exciting Dutch work). Though it didn’t forge too much new ground, it was quite lovely programming that ranged from Peter Sculthorpe’s gorgeous The Stars Turn to some of Andrew Ford’s brief Australian Aphorisms and Elena Kats-Chernin’s Mater, with a woodblock and all of her trademark charm in tow.

Katy Abbott’s Flying, which draws its lyrics from an article by Michael Leunig, was a standout, with dreamy, interweaving lines that soar over a lush, harmonic bed.