Lumsdaine's subsequent output joins this concern for human issues to a lasting passion for and fascination with the natural world. Lumsdaine is an esteemed ornithologist, whose field recordings of Australian birdsong are internationally admired as valuable aural documents of the Australian soundscape. 'Aria for Edward John Eyre' (1972) bring these twin concerns together in a beautifully paced dramatic setting of extracts from Eyre's journal covering his near-fatal crossing of the Australian Bight. Set for two narrators, soprano solo, doublebass solo, ensemble and live electronics, it offers a sophisticated fusion of the diverse sound sources into what is in effect a 50-minute dramatic cantata of great power. It is also one of the first works in Lumsdaine's output specifically and vividly evoking Australian natural landscapes, though at that time the composer had not seen them for nearly twenty years.