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Anton Killin  

'Another Day' Miniatures

Duration: 10' 00" Year: 2008
electroacoustic

  • Programme Note

    This suite of short pieces aims to juxtapose several different compositional styles relevant to the medium of electroacoustic music. Most of the source material is drawn from Allan Thomas’ Karanga Voices audio library, MTM’s open source samples, recordings of Kylie Nesbit’s bassoon and viola sounds, and recordings of local Wellington rock band Keller Kinder of which I am a member.

    ‘Another Day’ Miniatures was premiered at the Adam Art Gallery in Wellington at ‘Karanga Voices’ – a concert celebrating both the Karanga Voices audio library project of Allan Thomas (which documents New Zealand heritage in sound, after which the concert is named) and five generations of electroacoustic composers in Wellington.

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Michael Norris  

14 Islands

Duration: 10' 00" Year: 2005
for flute/bass flute, percussion, and prepared harp

Jack Body  

14 Stations

Duration: 20' 00" Year: 2000
for amplified pianist

Anthony Ritchie  

24 Preludes

Duration: 49' 00" Year: 2002
preludes for solo piano

  • Programme Note

    It is impossible not to feel inspired when playing some of Bach’s 48 Preludes and Fugues, Chopin’s 24 Preludes, Debussy’s two books of preludes, or Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues. As a composer I wanted to make a small mark of respect to these greats with some dedications. I have also taken a cue from Bach and Shostakovich and included contrapuntal forms within these preludes. While not wanting to restrict myself to the form of a fugue, there are several preludes which are close in spirit to fugues: Nos.17 and 19 for instance, are what I would call my ‘prelugues’. There is also a passacaglia (No.16) which owes a debt to Shostakovich. I have conceived these pieces as a unified whole. Within them I have attempted to cover a whole variety of characters and moods, from the improvisational and experimental to the lyrical and gentle, from the wild and gestural to the calm and peaceful, from the quirky and ‘black’ to the light and sunny, from the depressive to the resolved. The extensive technical planning and preparation behind these pieces has been fun for me as the composer, but in the end it is the sound and musical expression that matters. I would like to think this voyage of discovery has led to something new and interesting to listen to.

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Douglas Lilburn  

A Birthday Offering

Duration: 11' 00" Year: 1956
for orchestra

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

Anthony Ritchie  

A Bugle will Do

Duration: 09' 00" Year: 1995
for full orchestra

  • Instrumentation
    pc2233cb; 2331; timp.; 3 perc (triangle, tomtoms, bass drum, suspended cymbal, xylophone, tam tam, log drum); strs
  • Programme Note

    In 1995 I was approached by the NZSO to write an overture to commemorate the recent death of New Zealand’s most famous war hero, Sir Charles Upham. Upham was famous for having won the Victoria Cross twice for bravery during World War II. He was, however, extremely modest when it came to discussing his achievements. Some years before his death it was suggested to Upham that he have a state funeral; he simply replied, “A bugle will do”. This comment seemed like a good starting point for my piece.

    There are no bugles in the orchestra, but the opening section depicting the horrors of battle contains plenty of brass. Sub-titled Maleme and Ruweisat Ridge, the music is fast and furious, built from several motifs, and includes the opening rhythm for the most well known Maori haka (war dance), Kamate, kamate. The music builds to a climax, and the scene changes to a bleak Colditz Castle, where Upham was imprisoned during the war. While in prison he dreams of rural NZ, and the farm near Kaikoura called ‘Landsdowne’, where he eventually settled after the war. This brief pastoral section links into a coda celebrating the outbreak of peace. Motifs from earlier in the piece return but changed into brighter modes. ’

    A Bugle Will Do was first performed by the NZSO in 1996 under Andrew Sewell, and was subsequently performed in the USA.

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David Hamilton  

A Child Lay in a Little Crib

Duration: 02' 05" Year: 2012
for solo soprano, SSA choir and piano

  • Programme Note

    This piece was originally the fifth movement of a short Christmas cycle (“Angels and Shepherds and Wise Men All”) was written in 2012 for the end of year concert by South Auckland Choral Society to be conducted by the composer. The concert included my school choir, St Mary’s Schola, and I was keen to write something that the combined forces (including the soloists) in the concert could sing together.

    The cycle doesn’t try to encapsulate the entire Christmas story, but focusses on those characters on the edge of the story – the angels, the shepherds and the wise man. In this piece, the characters who gathered around the infant Jesus are focussed on: the animals, the angels and the shepherds.

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