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2222, 2231, timp, 2 perc., harp, strings
can also be performed with a reduced orchestra: 2110, 0000, 1 perc., harp, strings

Since enjoying 2007 as the Ursula Bethell writer-in-residence at the English Department of the University of Canterbury, I had wanted to thank the University in kind by setting one of Ursula Bethell’s poems. On receiving an invitation from the Christchurch City Choir to compose a work to celebrate the choir’s 20th anniversary I immediately thought of Bethell’s ‘At the Lighting of the Lamps’, which carries the subtitle in brackets ‘(For Music)’. In the first three cantos of this she describes, in an extended musical metaphor, the setting of the sun over the Southern Alps, the beginnings of a symphony of light as lamps are lit across the Canterbury Plains, and the heavenly effects of ‘the music of the spheres’ as starlight illuminates the night sky.

Bethell, one of the pioneers of modern New Zealand poetry, was a long-time resident of Cashmere until her death in 1945 and recorded in verse many such sights, and associated reflections, from her elevated vantage point on the hills.

With the tragedy of the 2011 earthquakes and the postponement of many cultural activities, the Christchurch City Choir’s anniversary for celebration passed from the 20th to the 21st. As a result of the earthquakes, Ursula Bethell’s words have assumed new meaning – the lighting of the lamps can now symbolise hope, signs of a city and its surrounds in renewal: ‘from the deepening dark, sudden a new song springs…’.

I have dedicated this work to my muse, Alison, on the occasion of our thirtieth wedding anniversary.

- Philip Norman, 2012.

• Norman: At the Lighting of the Lamps; computer set 

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Twice a year we alter the clocks for daylight saving, so twice a year we have to battle with our digital clocks, each having its own particular method of adjustment.

• Parsons: Changing the Clocks - Trials of the Digital Age; computer-set 

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• Parsons: Changing the Clocks - Trials of the Digital Age; computer-set 

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Twice a year we alter the clocks for daylight saving, so twice a year we have to battle with our digital clocks, each having its own particular method of adjustment.

• Parsons: Changing the Clocks - Trials of the Digital Age; computer-set 

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• Parsons: Changing the Clocks - Trials of the Digital Age; computer-set 

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Twice a year we alter the clocks for daylight saving, so twice a year we have to battle with our digital clocks, each having its own particular method of adjustment.

• Parsons: Changing the Clocks - Trials of the Digital Age; computer-set 

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• Parsons: Changing the Clocks - Trials of the Digital Age; computer-set 

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Twice a year we alter the clocks for daylight saving, so twice a year we have to battle with our digital clocks, each having its own particular method of adjustment.

• Parsons: Changing the Clocks - Trials of the Digital Age; computer-set 

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• Parsons: Changing the Clocks - Trials of the Digital Age; computer-set  

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solo soprano, SATB choir and piano

The original version of this arrangement was one of several made in 1987 for my choir Opus at Epsom Girls Grammar School. They were intended as straightforward arrangements of well-known Maori pieces for treble voice choirs. A version for mixed-voice choir (SSATB) was made in 1996 for the New Zealand and Australian tour by the St. Olaf Choir of Minnesota (conductor: Anton Armstrong).

The Maori people were the earliest settlers in New Zealand, arriving in the country about a thousand years ago. This piece belongs to the more recent “concert party” tradition of Maori music, rather than the traditional pre-European musical forms and styles. Before European contact, the music of the Maori people consisted largely of monophonic chants with a very limited range of pitches. The early missionaries brought with them their own musical styles which were soon taken over by the Maori people. Many well-known Maori songs are really a mix of European and early Maori forms.

Hine e Hine is a gentle lullaby. It was written by Fannie Rose Howie (1868-1916) who performed under the stage name of Princess Te Rangi Pai. Born in the Gisborne area of Maori and European parents, she showed early interest in singing, and after marrying undertook study in Australia and England. Her fine contralto voice, and natural stage presence, lead to a significant recital career both in England and in New Zealand on her return in 1905. Illness dogged the last years of her life, and she is now best remembered for this song.

The text, with a close translation of the Maori words, is:
E tangi ana koe, hine e hine
You are crying my daughter
Kua ngenge ana koe, hine e hine
You are tired my daughter
Ka ti to puiri ra, noho i te aroha
Stop your sadness, rest in love
Te ngakau o te matua, hine e hine.
The heart of the father, my daughter.

• Hamilton: Hine e Hine; computer set 

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The Auckland Primary Principals’ Association holds an annual music festival and over the years several of my choral works have been included in the event. In early 2010 I was approached by former student Pip Faulknor who, along with two other conductors, was keen to include something specifically about Auckland in their programmes, and asked if I had anything suitable. I suggested something new might be appropriate and a text was devised by Mary Cornish. The text talks of many of the features of Auckland, but is also a call for the people of the area to listen to, and respect, the children of Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland).

David Hamilton

• Hamilton: Listen Tamaki Makaurau; computer-set  Year: 2010 

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3 flutes, 3 clarinets, 2 alto saxophones, 2 tenor saxophones, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, euphonium, tuba, violoncello (optional), string bass, timpani, percussion I (high conga, low conga, medium tom, low tom), percussion II (high bongo, low bongo, high tom, medium tom), percussion III (tambourine, high woodblock, low woodblock), percussion IV (suspended cymbal, wind chimes, triangle) and percussion V - xylophone (medium sticks), with piano and SATB choir

Based on the simple idea: “If Lake Taupo was a piece of music, what would it sound like?”

This mass musical work, commissioned especially for the ERUPT Lake Taupo Festival 2010 through the SOUNZ Community Commission, takes its inspiration from the people and places of Taupo.

Featuring lyrics submitted by local writers, Moana Ataahua is a spectacular mix of symphonic, choral and percussive elements that erupts into an exciting finale.

• Youens: Moana Ataahua; computer-set 

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• Youens: Moana Ataahua; computer-set 

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This piece sets a short lullaby text by popular New Zealand author Joy Cowley. It fancifully suggests there’s a tree on the moon whose leaves turn into fish when they float to down into the sea.

Moon Fish was written for Auckland Boys’ Choir and conductor Stuart Weightman.

• Hamilton: Moon Fish; computer-set  Year: 2010 

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• The Treble Voice Choral Music of David Hamilton Vol. 3  Year: 2011 

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This works details the tragic end of Mr Macabre – a fisherman who starts out innocently enough, busily fishing:

Mr Macabre went fishing one day,
Out with his line, in his boat, in the bay.
So busy was he, pulling fish from the deep,
He even forgot to go home to sleep.

Unfortunately as it begins to get dark, a shark appears and bites him almost in half. The “awesomely tough” Mr Macabre is not content to let this small mishap spoil his life, so he proceeds to collect the various bits of his body until he is “almost complete”. Towards the end of the piece he is determined to get back in his boat and go out to catch that shark, in spite of his deformities.

Throughout, the chorus sections act as a commentary of the story contained in the verses, and at one point the choir quietly hums the sailor’s hymn “Eternal Father Strong to Save” behind Mr Macabre.

The text for That’s Macabre was especially written for this piece by New Zealand poet and writer Joy Watson.

That’s Macabre was written for the 40th anniversary of Auckland Boys’ Choir, and is dedicated to the choir and conductor Stuart Weightman.

• Hamilton: That's Macabre!; computer-set  Year: 2010 

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