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David Hamilton  

A Song of Ruth

Duration: 04' 00" Year: 1991
for SSA choir with oboe and strings

  • Programme Note

    This short anthem takes its text from the Old Testament book of Ruth. It is a statement of devotion and loyalty, and I have used the lines “Your people shall be my people and your God my God” as a refrain. To the biblical text I have added a concluding “Amen”.

    The original version (for SAB voices) was written for, and is dedicated to, Bruce Baker – a friend and musical colleague.

    David Hamilton

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David Griffiths  

Confitebor

Duration: 12' 00" Year: 1993
for two SATB choirs, 2 horns and organ with baritone and soprano soloists

Gary Daverne  

Have a Happy, Happy Birthday

 Year: 1998
for unison voice/s with keyboard and guitar accompaniment

Jenny McLeod  

He Honore, He Kororia (Honour and Glory to God)

Duration: 01' 30" Year: 1996
for orchestra with electric guitar, bass guitar, and SATB choir

John Wells  

Music for Holy Communion

 Year: 1994
for unison church choir with piano or organ accompaniment

Anthony Ritchie  

Remember Parihaka

Duration: 09' 00" Year: 1993
for orchestra

  • Instrumentation
    2222; 0200; 1 perc; strings
  • Programme Note

    The starting point for this piece was a curiosity in the metal doors that covered the entrances to cells imbedded in the cliffs near Andersons Bay inlet, in Dunedin. A friend informed me that during the 19th century Maori prisoners were kept there at night, and worked on the Dunedin Harbour land reclamation during the day. Some of these prisoners were brought down to Dunedin from Taranaki in the North Island, as a result of the conflict in 1881 at Parihaka.

    Upon reading Dick Smith’s book Ask that Mountain – The story of Parihaka I learned of one of the most shocking incidents in our country’s history. The land wars of the 1860s provoked a new approach from Maori to the protection of their lands. Te Whiti, Tohu and their followers at Parihaka combated the Pakeha land grab by organising passive resistance through a variety of means. In response to unauthorised land confiscation Te Whiti ordered the ploughing of fields, building of fences and planting, all of which impeded the surveyors who wished to carve up the land for settlers. Many were arrested, offering no struggle, and soon prisons around the country were full. Despite the many injustices Te Whiti maintained his policy of passive resistance to the end. In November 1881, government troops entered Parihaka with guns and artillery. They were greeted by Maori women and children chanting songs, but no armed struggle. Te Whiti and Tohu were taken away, the Pa was broken up, and hundreds sent away to prison. Despite a press blackout, two reporters were smuggled into the Pa, one commenting that “it was one of the saddest and most painful spectacles I have witnessed”.

    Remember Parihaka attempts to sum up my thoughts and feelings about the events at Parihaka. The slow opening is peaceful, like a sun rise, with melodic fragments that slowly unfold into a fuller, more passionate statement. Flutes and oboes announce a chant-like theme, based on an actual song composed at the time of the incident. This ‘Maori’ theme alternates with a more European-sounding theme on solo violin, accompanied by an Irish drum, the bowron. At the heart of the piece the various melodic ideas come together over a grinding, relentless bass, building to a climax. In the short postlude, the peace of the opening is suggested, but now it is tinged with sadness, and a slightly uneasy feeling.

    Remember Parihaka was first performed in 1994, under the baton of John Hopkins.

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Ray Twomey  

String Quartet (Opus 11b)

Duration: 18' 00" Year: 1997
for string quartet

  • Programme Note

    This work is the string quartet version of Sinfonia, opus 11a, and is a musical autobiography. Ray was born in England and lived through seven years of destruction, spending many nights in air raid shelters listening to the sounds of total war. An air raid, with its sirens, the drone of bombers, bombs dropping and anti-aircraft fire can be heard in the first movement. The main theme, which occurs soon after the opening, reappears inverted after the air raid – symbolic of the utter chaos prevalent at that time. However, like the Phoenix rising from the ashes, the theme not only corrects itself but changes from minor to major modality near the end. The second movement represents New Zealand with its bitter-sweet memories for the composer. New Zealand is a beautiful country. The humorous third movement, called “England again” is scored pizzicato throughout, and leads to the final movement “Canada” – big Canada, magnificent Canada, vast Canada, noble Canada, free Canada, beautiful Canada…. the huge but simple harmonies near the end are Ray’s interpretation of the optimism he feels for the country.

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Helen Fisher  

Te Whakaaro Pai Ki Nga Tangata

Duration: 04' 00" Year: 1994
Maori Christmas carol for SAA girl's choir with conga and bongos

Anthony Ritchie  

The Eagle has Landed

Duration: 15' 00" Year: 1996
chamber opera

  • Instrumentation
    two baritones, tenor, soprano, mezzo soprano; string quartet and piano
  • Programme Note

    Based on the 1969 moon landing and Jules Verne’s novel From the Earth to the Moon the premiere of this short opera was described in The Listener by Alan Wells as an “unclouded crowd-pleaser.” He went on to say, “Stuart Hoar’s libretto for this entertaining romp brought together Apollo astronauts and moon-stranded fictional characters from Jules Verne, while Ritchie’s tuneful score gleefully quoted Tchaikovsky and patriotic Americana to underline (and undermine) the action.”

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