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Jenny McLeod  

A baby lying

Duration: 01' 30" Year: 2008
for SA choir and piano

Jenny McLeod  

A baby lying

Duration: 01' 30" Year: 2008
for SA choir and piano with optional men's part

David Hamilton  

A Birthday Offering

 Year: 2012
for SATB choir and piano

  • Programme Note

    When the 90th birthday of Betty Somerville was approaching, members of Auckland Choral were asked to sing at a special birthday gathering as a surprise. Betty had been a long-time member of the choir, maintaining a strong active involvement behind the scenes after retiring as a singing member.

    In searching for a suitable text for a piece to mark the occasion, I found that almost all birthday poetry fell into one of two categories – it was either tied to a specific age, or was incredibly saccharine and trite. I finally chanced upon Richard Wilbur’s “For K.R. on her Sixtieth Birthday” which contained more general sentiments and wishes. The K.R. of the title is the poet Kathleen Raine, and the reference to William Blake in the poem notes her devotion to that poet’s work.

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Helen Caskie  

A Blessing

Duration: 02' 00" Year: 1998
a song for SATB choir for weddings or family occasions

Richard Madden  

A Blessing

Duration: 03' 30"
for SATB choir with soprano soloist, and organ

David Hamilton  

A Blessing for Saint Kentigern

 Year: 2008
for 2-part treble-voice choir, SAB choir and piano

  • Programme Note

    This work was commissioned by choral director Stuart Weightman for performance at Saint Kentigern School in Auckland. The brief was to write a work that could be performed by the school’s choir, but which also included a section for the parent’s choral group attached to the school. Also, ideally the work would include something for both groups to sing together. Finally, it should be possible for either of the separate choir sections to stand alone as independent pieces.

    The suggested texts were a blessing from a bookmark given to all the boys at the school, and a blessing often used in chapel services. To the first text I added a couple of lines which closely matched the final section of the second text.

    The work begins with a blessing in unison and then 2 parts for treble voices. This is followed by a blessing for SAB choir, and then finally the two earlier sections are performed simultaneously.

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David Hamilton  

A Blessing for this Day

Duration: 02' 00" Year: 2009
for two-part treble voices and piano

David Hamilton  

A Bright Light Still Shines

 Year: 2011
for SATB choir and piano

David Hamilton  

A Charm for Rain: He Tua I Te Rangi

 Year: 2013
for SSAA choir and piano

  • Programme Note

    While the word ‘charm’ is mostly used to mean something pleasing, it can also mean an action thought to have magical power, or the chanting of a magic word or verse – an incantation. It can also be used as a collective noun, usually of birds.

    This traditional text in Maori is a plea for the rain to depart and blue skies to appear. Preceding this, I have added several Maori terms for different types of rain – from misty rain through to drenching heavy rain. Rhythms in the work are often suggestive of typical Maori chant and kapahaka rhythms.

    “A Charm for Rain: He Tua I Te Rangi” was written for Cantare (Westlake Girls’ High School) and conductor Fiona Wilson.

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David Hamilton  

A Child Comes Forth

Duration: 13' 00" Year: 2006
for SSA choir with percussion and harp

  • Programme Note

    This work was written at the request of conductor Elise Bradley for her highly regarded choir Key Cygnetures at Westlake Girls High School (Auckland).

    It was intended for a ‘mid-winter Christmas’ concert which was to also feature Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols. I therefore felt happy to turn to Christmas texts with some of the more traditional Christmas references (snow etc).

    The first text is from the fifteenth century and is a general text mentioning Mary, the manger, the wise men, and the gifts they brought, and ends with call to delight in the Christ child. The second text, by G.K. Chesterton contains images of snow and night, and ends with the line that gives the work its overall title. The third text is a variant of the carol ‘I saw three ships come sailing in’ and may refer either to the medieval myth that Joseph and Mary travelled to England, or obliquely to purported journeys of the relics of the wise men. The fourth text is a lullaby by nineteenth century poet John Addington Symonds. Again the wise men and their gifts are mentioned along with the shepherds. The final text is another anonymous one, and is simply a brief and energetic welcome to ’heaven’s King’.

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