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As I listened to media reports on the ownership of Young Nick’s Head, I began to wonder about the life of the real ‘Young Nick’, who first sighted this land from the deck of the ship Endeavour. What was life like on board the ship for the young boy, and how did it feel to sight the land? Various images came to mind, including a silhouette of land in the early morning light, or a murky shape barely visible through grey storm spray, or a dark smudge on a bright blue horizon. This piece was written with these images in mind.

For Young Nick was premiered by Wellington Youth Orchestra in 2003.

• Holmes: For Young Nick (hire set); computer set 

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• Holmes: For Young Nick; computer set 

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• Holmes: For Young Nick; computer set 

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• Leonie Holmes: For Young Nick; audio 

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Rain is an iconic poem by Hone Tuwhare, describing beautifully a feature of the weather but also subtly ruminating on death. The setting is quiet and lyrical, with an optional part for a rainmaker (to be played by the singer). This setting for baritone and piano was written for Matt Landreth, and recorded by him. The recording and score were auctioned to raise funds for the Otago Hospice appeal in May 2008. The song was subsequently scored for orchestra and recorded by Matt Landreth and the Auckland Philharmonia.

• Ritchie: Rain; computer-set 

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• Ritchie: Rain; computer-set 

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This work is an exploration of the possibilities of the string orchestra as a body of sound, the orchestra at times acting like one giant super-instrument composed of intricately superimposed layers. Old textures are continually swallowed up, recycled and transformed, playing out a finely balanced tension between static and active, supple and brittle, strong and fragile. From a fluid, tangled haze, individual voices periodically emerge to assert some kind of nostalgic lyricism, but each time they are ultimately subsumed, swallowed up in an eerie, ambivalent mass of sound. Stylistically the music is varied and eclectic, weaving together the intricate, spidery lines of Ligeti, the delicate chordal sonorities of Messiaen, the caustic anger of Shostakovich and even the brooding menace of Anthony Watson.

• Taylor: silk / gravel; computer-set 

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• Taylor: silk / gravel; computer-set 

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• Taylor: silk / gravel; computer-set 

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• Alex Taylor: silk / gravel; audio 

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This work was written for the Taharoto Orchestra – a group consisting of students from both Westlake Girls and Westlake Boys High Schools conducted by Liz Cable.

The name ‘Taharoto’ is derived from two Maori words and is an approximation of the idea of ‘Westlake’. Literally it means ‘beside’ (taha) ‘lake’ (roto). The lake is Lake Pupuke on Auckland’s North Shore. A feature of the lake is the swans, and the symbol for Westlake Girls High School is the swan. I was asked to include ideas of the lake covered in mist and the swans taking flight, but also to include music which suggested aspects of the characters of the students at Westlake Girls High School: generous, assertive and energetic!

Overall the music has a sense of spaciousness, building to an emphatic climax, and subsiding into silence again at the end. The music includes some ‘contemporary’ playing techniques for the string players, with some more challenging parts for the leading wind players.

• Hamilton: Taharoto; computer-set 

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• Hamilton: Taharoto; computer set 

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‘Te Arikinui’ for tenor, strings and percussion is an homage to the late Māori Queen, Dame Te Atairangikāhu. Its composition was suggested by the late Dr Mīria Simpson in 1991. In that year, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra travelled to Ngāruawāhia, outside of Hamilton, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Coronation of Dame Te Atairangikāhu. It was Mīria’s idea that a piece of music be commissioned for this occasion.

She approached Tīmoti Kāretu of Ngāi Tūhoe for a text befitting this purpose. Late in 1990, she approached myself to compose the music, which I readily agreed to. Unfortunately, the invitation came quite late and there was not enough time to complete the composition. A first version, however, was completed late in 1991 but it was not performed.

An opportunity to perform the piece came in 2003 when Ngāti Kahungunu violinist Elena approached me to support the development of her project entitled ’Elena’s Cultural Symphony’. I asked a colleague, Craig Utting, to assist with the scoring of a new version of Te Arikinui. This was completed and the work was then performed as part of ’Elena’s Cultural Symphony’ in 2004 by members of the then NGC Wellington Symphonia at the Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington. Unfortunately, I was not satisfied with the work and decided to rework the piece.

I revised the piece in 2005 and 2006 and in that time there were a number of attempts to perform the work in the presence of Dame Te Atairangikāhu (including a proposed performance at Government House, Wellington, in honour of Dame Te Ata’s 30th anniversary in 2006). Unfortunately, none of these were successful. The work was never performed before her as Dame Te Ata passed away in 2006.

It was not until 2010 when the piece was finally performed in its current version at the WEL Energy Academy of Performing Arts, Waikato University, Hamilton. The occasion was the ‘Kīngitanga Day’ held at the university each year to celebrate King Tūheitia’s birthday on 14 April. And so on that day, 14th April 2010, the piece was finally performed in the presence of the King, with his wife Te Atawhai, in the Academy. It was performed by the Waikato University Orchestra conducted by Adam Maha. Howard McGuire, from Ngāti Kahungunu, was the singer.

• Royal: Te Arikinui; computer set 

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• Charles Royal: Te Arikinui; video 

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This piece is inspired by the day of a private function I played at in Wake Road, Coatesville, north-west of Auckland. Needless to say it was a rainy day – but at times the rain abated; at times it grew more intense than before; at times it only served to illuminate the natural beauty of the scenery up in that area of Auckland. In this piece, I have tried to capture all of this. The more ‘flowing’ aspects of the piece were intended to capture the sometimes cathartic nature of rain, and the occasionally abrupt changes in feel, texture and tonality were inspired by the abrupt changes in weather that we in Auckland often experience!

• Audain: Wake Road in the Rain; computer-set 

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• Audain: Wake Road in the Rain; computer-set 

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