Hush Music
The Hush Collection features music composed and performed by some of Australia's most eminent artists, especially to create a calming environment for patients, carers and health professionals. Some of our music can also be used to stimulate conversations about kindness and the value of the arts in health.
Please use the music in your own kindness gatherings and discussions. You can use the supplied lyrics and descriptions to facilitate conversations.
The tracks can be streamed here. If you'd like to purchase CDs, please visit the Shop Hush page. You will be supporting our work and assisting the development of more inspiring music!
Sky Blue
From Hush volume 16: A Piece of Quiet
This inspiring piece features reflections on kindness by kids from Jesse's grade 6 class, spoken by Matilda Rintoul and Leila Winsbury.
“Kindness is when someone says you are a friend.
If you make a mistake it is kindness that people give to you, to help you realise that you did something wrong.
Even though someone doesn’t like someone, they can still be kind."
Sticks and Stones
From Hush volume 16: A Piece of Quiet
Like other songs from Hush 16, this is inspired by stories of young patients fighting serious illness. This song by Naomi Crellin addresses bullying and the importance of speaking out.
"You can turn sticks and stones into microphones
And make your feelings heard
It only takes a word
It begins and ends with you."
Finding my Brave
From Hush volume 16: A Piece of Quiet
A shining example of the strength a child can summon in adversity, the words by Josh Concilia and Sophie Toll are a fresh way to look at illness.
“I imagine it as a big, dark faceless creature with muscles.
It tries to scare me and take over my body, but it doesn’t know I am a superhero."
Dance of the Paper Umbrellas
From Hush volume 13: The Magic Island
A gentle but joyous orchestral piece from one of our most loved composers.
"The idea for Dance of the Paper Umbrellas started when I visited the ward at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne and witnessed what wonderful work Dr Catherine Crock and her team do. It was a moving experience that was still with me, when a few days later I sat at my piano. I wondered what kind of piece I could write the would be uplifting. I wanted to enter the world of magic and possibilities. I imagined a cake adorned with multi-coloured umbrellas. A dance formed in my head, starting with a pattern in harp, marimba, plucked strings and flutes"
Elena Kats-Chernin
Step Outside
From Hush volume 16: A Piece of Quiet
A song about knowing your own strengths and appreciating the strengths of others.
"Talents can be:
Finding nice leaves; walking far; being interested in things or being good at describing things.
I think one of my main talents is laughing… and annoying my brother.”
The Ocean and the World
From Hush volume 16: A Piece of Quiet
A beautifully dreamy song By Naomi Crellin about the inspirational power of writing "your own storybook"
"And she said to me:
'You see, it wasn’t long ago life was dark and dim'
Her boat began to sink; she’d let the ocean in
She sank beneath the waves, but found that she could swim."