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David Hamilton  

Concertino For Percussion and Chamber Orchestra

Duration: 07' 55" Year: 2009
for percussion and chamber orchestra

Score Sample
  • Instrumentation
    for solo percussion: triangle (medium size), cow bell, three suspended cymbals (small, medium and large), four temple blocks, a pair of bongos, four roto-toms and xylophone (or marimba); 3120; tenor sax; 0221(opt.); strings
  • Programme Note

    This short work was written for the orchestra of Auckland Grammar School and a talented senior student percussionist. It is in a straight-forward tonal style, including a cadenza for the soloist.

    The work consists of three main ideas. Follow a short introduction the xylophone presents the main melodic material of the first idea. The 2nd main idea is chromatic chord that builds through the orchestra several times. Against this the percussion has more angular melodic material and more syncopated rhythmic ideas. The second section builds to a climax which immediately gives way to the 3rd section which is fugal. The melody from the 1st section re-appears, not as the fugue subject, but rather as the counter-subject of the fugue. This section mainly features the woodwind section of the orchestra interacting with the percussionist. The fugue winds down into a short cadenza for the soloist, and then material from the opening two sections is recapitulated in abbreviated form. The music builds to a final climax.

    The percussion part avoids exotic or unusual instruments, favouring basic equipment found in most school music departments with an active instrumental programme. The only tuned percussion instrument is a xylophone, with the remainder being a mix of wood, skin and metal instruments.

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Gary Daverne  

Gem of the Kaipara

Duration: 10' 00" Year: 2002
piece for solo accordion, strings and percussion

Score Sample
Audio Sample
Audio Sample
  • Programme Note

    This work another commissioned work, this time by the Kaipara District Council, in honour of long time accordion and arts supporter and lifetime member of the New Zealand Accordion Association, the late Mrs. Jenny Cocurullo. A respected and loved citizen of Dargaville, the main town in the Kaipara region in the north of New Zealand, Jenny always promoted the Kaipara as the ‘Gem of the North’. She in turn was considered ‘The Gem of the Kaipara’. Written for solo accordion with string orchestra and percussion, the Gem of the Kaipara was premiered in Dargaville on 11 May 2002, where it was performed by the Auckland Symphony with New Zealand accordion soloist Kevin Friedrich, and conducted by the composer. Written in simple sonata form, the introduction of the piece is quite mysterious in nature, with the lower strings providing a subtle bagpipe-like drone. The airy melody and soft percussive effects are reminiscent of the awakening of the lush majestic Kauri tree forests and countryside of the Kaipara Flats with its blanketing dawn fog. The main themes are written around Jenny’s name and the name of the region ‘Kaipara’. The lyrical re-occurring melody is first heard by the accordion with string accompaniment and then switches to the string accompanied by the accordion. After working through an animated and rhythmical jig-like section portraying Jenny’s boundless energy, various interests and Scottish heritage, the strings restate the soaring melody expressing the vast expansiveness and sweeping landscapes of the Kaipara region.

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Juliet Palmer  

So Long

Duration: 05' 00" Year: 2005
for soprano and chamber orchestra

Score Sample
  • Instrumentation
    chamber orchestra: alto flute, oboe, bass clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, perc., strings.
  • Programme Note

    Both So Long, Marianne and I were born in 1967. Leonard Cohen’s song lodged itself in my brain at an undetermined point somewhere between that first release and the present. The moment that stuck in my mind most clearly was when the back-up singers wiggled their way upwards in the chorus on “Marianne” (a moment which fails to reappear in my own version of the song). Now Marianne’s name has gone, and I hope I have found a way to make the song new. I don’t remember ever hearing the words to the verse I’ve set, but I can imagine Trisha on a window ledge, miles above the traffic, stuttering a song of goodbye. So long.

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John Psathas  

Three Psalms

Duration: 23' 00" Year: 2003
for piano and chamber orchestra

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Anthony Young  

Three Songs on Poems by Jean Toomer

Duration: 15' 00" Year: 2006
for soprano and chamber orchestra

Score Sample
Score Sample
  • Instrumentation
    1111; 1000; perc. (floor tom, b.d., sus. cym., tamb., tri., vib.); soprano voice; vln 1, vln 2, vla, vc., d.b. (Clarinet in B flat and A)
  • Programme Note

    The three poems by Jean Toomer were selected for their beauty of language, wide palette of colours and imagery, and strength of feeling. I stumbled upon them while browsing a website of American poets. I had not intended to set work by an author who was so politically motivated, but the instant reaction in my heart on reading them made these a must. I must confess to not understanding the poems completely, but that air of mystery appeals all the same. I’ve attempted to set the poems in an honest and respectful way, but I have had to rely on my own interpretation and instinct in doing so. This set of songs is a quest for, or dream of, beauty, and the difficulties one meets on the way. Emotional poles are used to structure the music and highlight my interpretation of the texts.

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Ross Carey  

Whakatu

Duration: 14' 00" Year: 2006
for solo violin and small orchestra

Score Sample
  • Instrumentation
    2121; 1110; timp; strings
  • Programme Note

    The first movement opens with the soloist presenting a theme based on the intervals of a minor third and perfect fourth. This establishes the modal flavour of this and the concluding movement, which is also based on a version of this motif. The first movement is a series of solo episodes and refrains from the orchestra, and includes a cadenza for the soloist; in the fourth the musical texture gradually builds, until the soloistic episodes of the first movement reoccur in the work’s coda, this time shared between soloist and various other instruments. The second movement is a lively scherzo featuring a duet between solo violin and timpani, punctuated by pizzicato strings and woodwind. In the adagio the violin solo ascends over muted strings; later joined by cantabile lines of woodwind and brass, the music adopts a freely modulating tonality.

    The piece was given its first performance by these performers conducted by Joel Bolton in the ‘Sounds of New Zealand’ concert held at the Nelson School of Music in September 2006. The event was largely organised by the orchestra’s leader, Charlotte van Asch.

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