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This work was written as part of a series of composer workshops organised by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, for works for organ and orchestra. The Auckland Town Hall organ had been restored and refurbished, returning it to its original splendour as a magnificent concert organ. Six composers were invited to write works for organ and symphony orchestra during 2012, for performance in 2013.

For this work I proposed a work that would contrast percussive sounds with the sound of the organ.

The title appealed to me through its various meanings and associations. Firstly as “a mythological, fire-breathing monster, commonly represented with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail”. Surely if anything could be said to be a musical embodiment of a “fire-breathing monster” it would be the pipe organ! A second definition suggests a ‘chimera’ might be seen as a “grotesque monster having disparate parts”, and also as a “vain or idle fancy”. These last two definitions perhaps relating to the disparate nature of sounds available on the instrument, and the somewhat free-form of the work.

Musically the work contrasts a syncopated one-bar rhythmic idea with more flowing melodic material presented by both the orchestra and the organ. In the final bars the two powerful forces battle for supremacy with the organ having the last word!
I was delighted to be paired with organist John Wells for this project, a musician and fellow composer who I admire greatly (and whose daughters I had taught!). His advice and support were very much appreciated.

-David Hamilton

• David Hamilton: Chimera - hire set 

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• David Hamilton: Chimera - hardcopy score 

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• David Hamilton: Chimera - downloadable PDF 

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Compass is a reflection of the choices that shape our life and the lives of others. These choices shape our identity, our state, and the world we share. Like many of my works, Compass is strongly influence by landscape and seascape.

• Hunt: Compass (hire set); computer set 

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• Hunt: Compass; computer set 

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• Hunt: Compass; computer set 

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• Hunt: Compass; computer set 

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This short work grew out of the middle movement. Originally composed for violin and strings, “Memorial” was first performed in a version for oboe and strings by the chamber orchestra of St Mary’s College, Auckland. It was suggested I might like to expand this into a larger work for oboe and strings, given there was a fine young oboe player in the school.

The completed concertino consists of a traditional three movement form: fast-slow-fast. The first movement has elements of Baroque period writing in it, including a short fugal section based on the opening melody. The second movement, “Memorial”, is a slow and poignant movement written at a time when New Zealand was experiencing a number of tragedies – the Pike River mining tragedy and the Christchurch earthquakes. The final movement, “Hoe-Down”, is a complete contrast, being a purely fun and rhythmic piece of writing suggesting the music of the old time western USA.

• Hamilton: Concertino for Oboe and Strings; computer set 

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• Hamilton: Concertino for Oboe and Strings; computer set 

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The concerto, in one movement, begins in darkness but soon ascends into lighter worlds as the tempo increases. The personality of the cello – romantic, nostalgic, cheeky, irreverent and even wild imbues the work with a wide range of moods and characterisation.

• Harris: Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra; computer set 

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• Harris: Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra; computer set 

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Mahuika for organ and orchestra was, like several of my pieces, given a title in its infancy. In the way that a child grows into her name over time, Mahuika has developed a particular character during the process of writing. The work is not programmatic, but the origins of its name have come to influence the work: Mahuika, a Maori fire goddess, is awakened into her full terrifying extreme, utilising the full range and capacity of both the Auckland Town Hall organ and the Auckland Philharmonia. Mahuika evokes the sense of a young teenage goddess full of ideas and vitality but without the opportunity to yet develop and explore them fully.

The work has the potential to mature into a full-scale organ symphony of around 30-40 minutes: if anyone is in a position to fund her to grow further please contact me to discuss.

• Chris Adams: Mahuika - hire set 

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• Chris Adams: Mahuika - hardcopy score 

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• Chris Adams: Mahuika - downloadable PDF 

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• Young: Portrait; computer set 

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• Young: Portrait; computer set 

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Symphony No. 4 is dedicated to the memory of singer, composer and poet Mahinarangi Tocker, who died in tragic circumstances three years ago. The symphony has five sections linked by bell sounds that ’ring the changes’. Each section quotes a fragment of one of Mahinarangi’s songs and is also, in the score, headed by one or two lines of her poetry.

Section One (from 0:00):
‘the sea mimics a thousand applauding kanuka’

Section Two (from 5:50):
’I’m happy, dressed for laughter,
Cave me wild under tonight’s moon.’

Section Three (from 11:36):
‘The window fogs
to track my finger
smudge my eyes in mist
in questions asked of beauty.’

Section Four (from 18:53):
’I’m the only one turning,
The world has stopped.’

Section Five (from 22:31):
‘no sky in her day
no clouds below her feet
No body to shroud her, in linen
of earth’s flax-woven warmth"

These lines were taken from emails Mahinarangi sent to the composer during their collaborations and discussions about music.

• Harris: Symphony no. 4 (To the memory of Mahinarangi Tocker); computer set 

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• Harris: Symphony no. 4 (To the memory of Mahinarangi Tocker); computer set 

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• Ross Harris: Symphony no. 4 (To the memory of Mahinarangi Tocker) 

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• Ross Harris: Symphony no. 4 (To the memory of Mahinarangi Tocker) 

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The story of “The Radish and the Shoe” was created by French Canadian artist Louise Jalbert and set to music by Andrew Perkins. Jalbert’s book won the Parents’ Choice Award when it was first published in California in 1984 and has since been republished. The characters, a Radish, a Shoe and a group of Letters, all reside inside a book which they call their home. One day a pair of scissors attacks the book, destroying the characters’ home, leaving them completely despondent. However, they pick themselves up and repair their book, and in the process inadvertently transform their ‘home’ into something more beautiful than before. The story is cleverly analogous with survival in the real world and one that has always rung resonances with the philosophical approach to life Andrew Perkins has always attempted to instill in his students.

• Perkins: The Radish and the Shoe; computer set 

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• Perkins: The Radish and the Shoe; computer set 

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• Andrew Perkins: The Radish and the Shoe 

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Although the five movements of this piece traverse a variety of sonic terrain, they amalgamate to explore the distinction between diffused sounds and those in close proximity in rhythmic, harmonic and physical space.

Apart from the third movement, which is a short interlude for trio alone, the names of the movements toy with the usual associations of such titles: the first movement’s “Procession” is from stage to audience. Nobody enters, but the music itself. The “Ritual” is one of frantic pursuit. The “Chorale” exploits some spontaneous (and often gnarly) voice leading. This is where the brass make their major contribution from their positions scattered around the hall. “Circuits” describes both the distribution of sound around the ensemble and some subtle, ever-decreasing circles of harmonic material.

The “Orchestra Tacet” allows the NZTrio more prominence in a cadenza-like movement requiring some virtuosity to give the sense of sliding in and out of coherence. “They play a kind of music that seems to be constantly forgetting and then recovering its memory,” Gendall says.

• Gendall: Triple Concerto; computer set 

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• Gendall: Triple Concerto; computer set 

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• Cresswell: Triple Concerto; computer set 

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