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Commissioned in 2000 by the NZTrio, A Feather of Blue takes its title from a phrase in a poem called A View From A Window by New Zealand writer Kevin Ireland. I have always admired the wry humour and brightness of Kevin Ireland’s writing and many years ago set three of his poems for soprano and mixed ensemble. As a kind gesture Mr Ireland sent me a copy of his book of poems Skinning A Fish, and I was particularly struck by the imagery of colours, flowers, feathers and birds in this poem, which illustrates rain pouring down a window pane and giving way to a burst of sunshine after a storm.

Maria Grenfell

• Grenfell: A Feather of Blue; computer-set 

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• Grenfell: A Feather of Blue; computer-set 

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• Grenfell: A Feather of Blue; computer-set 

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• New Zealand Trio - Spark  Year: 2004 

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“I enjoyed playing the first performance of ‘An Irksome Vengeance’ with Yvette. The piece explores quite complex rhythmic patterns at a high level of expertise, calling to mind jazzy and folk-type drive with well-executed lyrical connections. The audience seemed to relate warmly to the work, so I think it is well deserving of future airings." – Katherine Hebley, cellist, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and 175 East

This piece was largely informed by my involvement in the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s Remix the Orchestra courses, during which fascinating syntheses of classical and hip-hop musics are created.

I have an all-encompassing view of music and have never shied away from influences outside the ‘classical’ genre: in this short work can also be heard a fleeting post-grunge-informed bassline and maybe, even, a slight tinge of progressive rock.

It recently occurred to me that many of us have a rap song from our formative years to which we know, if not ALL the words, at least most (often entirely despite ourselves!). Upon rediscovering Monie Love’s It’s a Shame (chorus originally recorded by the Spinners and written by Stevie Wonder), the phrase ‘an irksome vengeance’ jumped out at me from the lyrics.

Upon catching up with a former mentor prior to the composition of this work, I was reminded of the concept of a ‘groove-based’ piece, and to this end I have tried not to let the basic pulse abate for too long at a time, so as to create as much continuity as possible.

Yvette Audain

• Audain: An Irksome Vengeance; computer-set 

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• Audain: An Irksome Vengeance; computer-set 

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• Yvette Audain: An Irksome Vengeance 

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Angst: an acute but non-specific sense of anxiety or remorse (Collins Concise Dictionary). This is not intended to be an easy-listening, carefree piece. I wanted to portray a deep-seated sense of angst, creating a feeling of uneasiness in the listener. The flute and cello bear a similar angst, at times dealing with this independently, yet always returning to share in their anxiety. Quarter-tone inflections disconcert the harmonies, with tremolo, flutter-tongue and a recurring minor ninth adding to the tension. The material gradually unravels, only to fold in on itself again, remaining unresolved.

• Morgan: ...and yet, not; computer set 

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• Morgan: ...and yet, not; computer set 

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• Rachael Morgan: ...and yet, not; audio 

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• Works by Rachael Morgan 

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Antikythera is an island between Greece and a larger island called Kythera. It is the site of a very significant archeological find in 1901. The object was a complex piece of clockwork machinery designed to calculate astronomical positions It has been dated to 150-100 BC.

The device is remarkable for the level of miniaturisation and complexity of its parts showing a craftsmanship comparable t that of 18th century clocks.

The music seeks to convey the interaction between the components of the clockwork mechanism and the idea that this think has lain dormant for 2000 years and has been carefully reconstructed.

• Scholes: Antikythera; computer-set 

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• Peter Scholes: Antikythera 

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(1)22ca2bscl2cbsn; 422bstrb1; timp; 3 perc (1: crash cymbals, snare drum, 2: glockenspiel, bass drum , 3: marimba); strins

Two movements adapted from chamber work, Barcelona Postcards.

The first movement illustrates the plethora of fish to be seen at the aquarium at feeding time. There are small fish, big fish, colourful fish and plain fish. I have tried to mimic the darting movements of the small fish with quick high grace notes and tremolos. In contrast, the darker notes of the oboe and the piano represent the bigger, slower and brooding fish.

Finding large as life puppets in the square outside the Cathedral was a delight. I imagined them to be alive, moving jerkily, interacting and dancing a little in an empty space.

• Toan: Aquarium & Puppets; computer-set 

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• Toan: Aquarium & Puppets; computer-set 

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• 2008 NZSO/Todd Corporation Young Composer Awards 

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• Speak: Arabesques; computer-set 

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• Waiteata Collection of New Zealand Music Vol. 7 - Emerging Composers  Year: 2003 

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3222; 4231; timp; 2 perc: glockenspiel, vibraphone, large suspended cymbal, small triangle, large triangle, wind chimes, bass drum; harp; strings

• Lodge: Aër; computer set 

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• Lodge: Aer; computer-set 

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• Martin Lodge: Aër; audio 

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Badb (pronounced ‘badhv’ where ‘dh’ is a voiced fricative, as in ‘these’) was one of a trio of war-goddesses from Irish legend. She assumed variously the guises of a beautiful woman, an old hag, and a carrion crow. Her manifestation in the latter form was an omen of death. Before a battle she would appear in anticipation of the carnage, and as the battle took place, would flit around the heads of the warriors. Afterwards, she would feed on the corpses strewn across the fields. Like the other two battle-furies, Macha and the M’rr’gan, Badb was both sinister and sexual; she prophesied the end of the world, the fall of the gods and an endless reign of chaos. There are three distinct types of material in this piece, portraying the three juxtaposed personalities of Badb: the sinuous, seductive syrensong of sing-flute representing the mysterious, beautiful femme fatale who befriended the Irish warrior C’ Chulainn, then lured him to his death; the unearthly shrieks and battle-cries of the old hag, which were said to arouse fear and dread in the living; and the hideous crow, pecking at the flesh of the slain with bloodied maw. Much of the piano’s harmonic structure is derived and interpolated from chords representing the crow in Olivier Messiaen’s Catalogue d’Oiseaux, while the notes B, A and D feature prominently through the piece.

• Norris: Badb; computer-set 

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• Norris: Badb; computer-set 

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• Taurangi - New Zealand Music for flute and piano  Year: 2004 

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3*3*3*3*; 4331; timp., perc. (2), hp; strings

• Young, A.: Bonfire; computer-set 

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• Young: Bonfire 

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Bright Silence, for solo violin, is an evocation of Central Otago, the high plateau between the Southern Alps and the coastal plains in the South Island of New Zealand. The area is treeless, rocky, sparsely populated, and the piece reflects the sounds, silences and ghosts of the area.

Bright Silence was written while Gillian Whitehead was composer-in-residence with the Auckland Philharmonia, as the solo violin competition piece for the inaugural Michael Hill World Violin Competition (now the Michael Hill International Violin Competition) held at Queenstown, New Zealand, where it received its first eighteen performances in June 2001. The piece is dedicated to Michael Hill.

• Whitehead: Bright Silence; computer-set 

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• Whitehead: Bright Silence; computer-set 

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• Premieres: Poynton, Ritchie, Whitehead 

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• NZIAF: Gillian Whitehead Portrait; part 1 

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• NZ Women Composers Vol. 3 

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• Whitehead: Bright Silence 

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• Whitehead: Bright Silence  Year: 2002 

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• Waiteata Collection of New Zealand Music Vol. 11 - Chamber Music III  Year: 2010 

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