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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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An unusual work combining field recordings of fiddle music played by an Indonesian street-seller of candy-floss (in Indonesian, "arum manis, meaning “sweet aroma”) with a string quartet. The listeners’ ears are charmed by music which passes seamlessly between the tape and the live performers. Composed for the Kronos Quartet, this work was presented at the 1996 International Rostrum of Composers.

• Body: Arum Manis; facsimile 

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• SOUNZfine Volume 3 

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• Sound Barrier  Year: 2006 

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In many ways this is a companion piece to an earlier work, Vivid for solo trumpet, which also sets a powerful, sexually charged poem by Will Christie. But where Vivid is very often overtly violent and forceful in its gestures, deepwalker is mostly much subtler, almost passive-aggressive in outlook. The opening lines of the poem – “the day is a drum that connects these vocal loops with grey traffic circles bridge after bridge” – are mirrored in the cyclical, sometimes elliptical form of the work, loops and circles that play between registers of the clarinet. Sexual tension and aggression bubble away in the background, periodically rupturing the musical surface with piercing, angular outbursts, sometimes in parallel with the rather tender, fluid lines of the low register, and with the spoken text itself. This violent interplay creates a kind of disordered internal conversation, a bizarre hermetic character opening and shutting her windows; a clarinet of many voices.

Warning: contains coarse language

• Taylor: deepwalker; computer set 

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• Taylor: deepwalker; computer set 

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• Alex Taylor: deepwalker; audio 

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• Alex Taylor: deepwalker 

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Fluchtig was composed in 1986. The title comes from the German word fluchtig – fleeting – used by Schoenberg and others in various compositions (eg. Op. 19 No. 1). The work is built around the interaction between flute multiphonics (two or more notes played simultaneously) with their characteristic ‘fleeting’ nature, and FM sound on tape.

• Ross Harris: Fluchtig 

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• New Zealand Sounds - October Sound 

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• Ross Harris: Inner Worlds  Year: 1993 

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Gestauqua was composed in February and March 1989, for Concord Brass Quintet, then resident at SUNY Fredonia and directed by Grant Cooper

• Elmsly: Gestauqua; facsimile 

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• Elmsly: Gestauqua; electroacoustic part 

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• Elmsly: Gestauqua; facsimile 

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• Elmsly: Gestauqua; facsimile 

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• Grant Cooper and Concord Brass: Points in a Changing Circle 

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This is the “permanent exhibit” from the work in progress called ‘given what we gather takes place’. The model for the whole work is that of a museum in which some exhibits are on permanent display, and others are brought up from the storeroom. In other words, some sections of music are always to be played, while others are chosen by the performers from a pool of material to present a unique exhibition for each performance. The percussionist’s instrumental collection is similarly assembled; some categories of instruments are specified while others are chosen by the percussionist with the added stipulation that some aspect of the instruments chosen must be unique to the location of the performance. The music of this particular “exhibit” alludes to, but does not use, folk-like material and is conceived as a playful sparring match between two friendly opponents. ‘given what we gather takes place’ was commissioned by Resonate Duo, to whom it is dedicated, with funding from Creative New Zealand.

• Gardner: Given what we gather takes place; computer set 

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• Given What We Gather Takes Place 

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Like many whakataukī, or traditional sayings, he rimu pae noa conveys a rich range of meanings. Literally, it describes seaweed set in motion by the tide. Metaphorically, it also refers the restlessness of a traveller, and the movement of a whole bed of seaweed in the same current alludes to a group of people working in harmony. This in particular has a strong resonance with the collaborative process from which the piece arose. The instrumental ensemble provides a framework, and a backdrop, for the improvisation of the taonga pūoro. At the same time it attempts to maintain its own identity, in conversation with the solo lines. Precisely specified gestural events are distributed in a flexible rhythmic framework,
which aims at a balance between control and spontaneity. I am deeply grateful to Horomona Horo, for a richly rewarding collaboration, and to Richard Nunns, whose work over many years is a deep source of inspiration.

Philip Brownlee

• Brownlee: He rimu pae noa; computer-set 

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• Brownlee: He rimu pae noa; computer-set 

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• Philip Brownlee: He rimu pae noa; video 

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• Two pieces by Philip Brownlee 

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This lament for unaccompanied mezzo-soprano is to a text by Harjo.
“The simple image of one woman onstage, barefoot, letting loose great octave leaps and glissandos peaking in sharp cries, projected a beautifully unfettered freedom.”
Cahill, Berkeley Express

• Lockwood: I give you back; facsimile 

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• NZ Women Composers Vol. 2 

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• Lesbian American Composers   Year: 1997 

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This single movement work is structured as follows: A – variation1(a) – var2(a) – B – var1(b) – var2(b) – var2(c ) – var1(c ) – C Capital letters refer to themes, “var” refers to the different variations upon those themes. Although there is only one continuous movement, it is divided into three sections with the aforementioned contrasting variations. “A” is a transcription of a prison work song I had five long years recorded at the notorious Angola State Penitentiary in Louisiana in 1959 by Harry Oster (released on Folk-Lyric Recording Co., Louisiana Folklore Society). The original singer was James Russell and some other inmates. To appreciate the anguish and bitterness behind these prison songs, one must become familiar with the outrageous conditions to which inmates were subjected during its worst years. “B” is a transcription of the railroad song, John Henry as sung by Rich Amerson, a transient from Alabama as recorded by Harold Courlander in 1956 for Folkways Records. “I ain’t proud to be poor, but I ain’t too poor to be proud,” he was recorded as saying. Its treatment is also indicative of early jug band recordings of the 1920s which I enjoy. “C” is a transcription of the Bayou Teche Waltz as played by Columbus Fruge, a Cajun accordion player and singer recorded in the 1920s. As stated previously, each transcription is dealt with in a set of two variations. Variation 1 is a polytonal variation to be played exactly as written. Variation 2 is an optional improvised section which can either be played exactly as notated or partially as notated and/or completely improvised thereupon.

• Davidson: I had five long years; computer-set 

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• Davidson: I had five long years; computer-set 

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• Talencourt  Year: 2008 

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• Dadson: MAYA; facsimile 

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• Dadson: MAYA; facsimile 

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• Buchanan Dadson Fisher: works 

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• Philip Dadson: Maya 

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• Fanfares for a New Millennium  Year: 2000 

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