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Mark Smythe  

Alleluia

Duration: 05' 00" Year: 2007
for SSATB unaccompanied

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Daniel Stabler  

Ccycclohhopps

Duration: 05' 00" Year: 2003
a single movement work for orchestra

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Brent Parker  

Credo

Duration: 05' 00" Year: 2003
for SSATBB choir and organ with optional brass ensemble

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Anthony Ritchie  

Diary of a Madman: Dedication to Shostakovich

Duration: 08' 00" Year: 2006
for orchestra

Score Sample
  • Instrumentation
    (1)2222; 4331; timp., perc. (3); strings E flat clarinet instead of Cl. 2 Percussion: xylophone, glockenspiel, snare drum, bass drum, tom toms, suspended cymbal, crash cymbals, triangle, woodblock, castanets
  • Programme Note

    In 1975 when Shostakovich died I was in the fourth form at St Bedes College and already hooked on the music of the Russian genius. When the death notice appeared in the paper I solemnly set to work on an orchestral piece ‘Dedication to Shostakovich’, much to the amusement of my schoolmates. Now, 31 years later, and during the centenary celebrations of Shostakovich’s birth, I have had the opportunity to write another dedication to the composer, courtesy of the Christchurch Symphony and Otago University (who funded the commission).

    When the idea of writing a piece based on a Shostakovich theme was first suggested, I immediately thought of a ‘Theme and Variations’. However, I found it too difficult to settle on a single theme – there were so many good ones to choose from! This gave me the idea of basing the piece around more than one quotation from the composer’s oeuvre. Shostakovich himself was fond of quoting other composers’ works (and his own works also), as in the Eighth String Quartet when the quotations form a string of coded messages. I decided to take this route, and ended up creating a piece that quotes Shostakovich 14 times. Some of these quotations are literal ones, while others are more disguised. Some are quite lengthy and form a structure to base the music around, while others are very short and fleeting.

    The Shostakovich of this piece is not the Shostakovich of the epic symphonies (although they have their place here). Instead, I use lesser-known early works as my starting point: those youthful, zany, cutting edge works that express an almost manic character on occasions. So the work opens with menace from the Fourth Symphony, followed by cheekiness from the Aphorisms for piano, and satire from The Age of Gold ballet. In amongst these are references to numerous other pieces, and particularly a deathly string chord from the 15th String Quartet. They are brought together through free-association of ideas, and a few recurring motifs. The final section uses a theme from the Tenth Symphony, second movement, as the basis for a frenzied conclusion.

    When I wrote this piece I had in my mind the image of the crazed composer writing a sort of jumbled diary that lurches from farce to despair in rapid succession. Shostakovich was very fond of the 19th century Russian author Gogol, basing his first opera The Nose on one of Gogol’s short stories. Another of Gogol’s stories is Diary of a Madman, which uses the formula of ‘laughter through tears’, a formula that is very often present in Shostakovich, too. Therefore, my piece Diary of a Madman: Dedication to Shostakovich is designed as a funny/sad commentary on a great composer who’s music could induce both laughter and tears.

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Clare Maclean  

In the year that King Uzziah Died

Duration: 05' 00" Year: 2003
for unaccompanied choir (SATB)

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Anthony Ritchie  

Organ Overture

Duration: 08' 00" Year: 2006
for orchestra with concert organ

Score Sample
  • Instrumentation
    (1)2222; 4231; timp., perc. (3); organ (2-3 manuals and pedals); strings Percussion: bass drum, side drum, suspended cymbal, crash cymbals, xylophone, slapstick, tam tam)
  • Programme Note

    ‘Organ Overture’ was commissioned by the Southern Sinfonia to celebrate the orchestra’s 40th anniversary. It was written and funded as part of the composer’s work at the University of Otago. It features a prominent part for concert organ, and is also partly a tribute to ‘Norma’, the Dunedin Town Hall organ. Orchestras often bring together many threads of a musical community, and are a vital part of the culture in New Zealand cities. The diversity of instruments and musicians on display in an orchestra are a great source of inspiration for composers and music-followers alike. In this overture I give thanks to the Sinfonia, and wish it a long and happy future. Elements of southern weather find their way into the music. The piece opens stormily, with jagged lightning and rumbling thunder. A vigorous theme emerges and leads to a gusty, pulsating passage. As this calms a little, a drum rhythm appears. Following a flowing melody on strings, accompanied by the organ, the percussion rhythm battles with rest of the orchestra. This leads to a fugue on the woodwinds, based on the opening melody. The organ then takes over with a brief cadenza, leading to a rhythmic coda in which the main themes are summarised.

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David Hamilton  

Piece in Celebration: Puke Ariki

Duration: 06' 00" Year: 2003
extended fanfare for orchestra

Score Sample
  • Instrumentation
    2(picc)222; 2231; timpani; 3 perc.: 1. triangle (large), tambourine, clash cymbals 2. Suspended cymbal, glockenspiel 3. Xylophone, bass drum ; strings
  • Programme Note

    This piece is essentially an extended fanfare. It opens with a single note gradually fanning out to a chord in the brass, and this idea returns at the climax of the piece. This material gives way to the first main melodic idea in the strings, against which the woodwind provide a repetitive and lively accompaniment. The middle section is softer and allows several of the woodwind instruments to take short solos against sustained string chords. A build up of energy leads back to the original brass idea, but this time set against insistent pitch in the woodwind and strings. The piece ends firmly in the tonic key of D major. ‘Piece in Celebration: Puke Ariki’ was written for, and won first prize in, a competition organised by the New Plymouth Orchestra to mark the opening of the city’s new museum and library complex ‘Puke Ariki’.

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Carol Shortis  

Tesknota

Duration: 08' 00" Year: 2009
for eight-voice vocal ensemble, string quintet, piano, soprano solo and countertenor solo

  • Programme Note

    This piece was written for the 65th anniversary of the arrival in New Zealand of Polish refugee children in 1944. Most of them were children who had been separated from, or who had lost their parents and other family members. As part of my research for the piece, I transcribed an interview that my colleague Anton Killin had recorded with one of these refugees. His story is one of loss, struggle, enforced migration and international betrayal of the Polish community, yet his perseverance, faith common sense and strength eventually won through and he continues to live in New Zealand whilst being proud of his Polish heritage. Tesknota is my reflection and response to his moving story and quotes from the traditional Polish fold song Polskie Kwiaty and 13th-century hymn Bogurodzica representing “old Poland” before the Russian and German invasions of 1939.

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David Hamilton  

Veni Sancte Spiritus

Duration: 09' 00" Year: 2000
for SSATB choir

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