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Martin Lodge  

Cassation

Duration: 14' 00" Year: 1991
for chamber orchestra

  • Instrumentation
    2222; 2100; strings
  • Programme Note

    The origin of the term ‘cassation’ is clouded with speculation, but around the time of Haydn and Mozart it was used more or less interchangeably with ‘serenade’ and ‘divertimento’. Generally such pieces were for orchestra, and written in an entertaining, less serious vein. The present work for chamber orchestra also is of a lighter character. It has an outdoor flavour, and features uncomplicated, open harmonies, jaunty rhythms and clear melodies.


    The first movement has an energetic, raucous character rising out of the resonant sounds of the open strings of violins and violas. Sections of uneven rhythm alternate with simpler passages, as if one were strolling briskly through streets in which various sorts of different activity were going on. The ‘Nocturne’ is pensive and nostalgic. Expressive lines for solo horn and cello rise out of a gentle, rather static atmosphere. The third movement is a short and capricious treatment of the opening oboe theme from Alban Berg’s opera Wozzeck. This scrap of tune – playful but loaded – is introduced upside down here, and is restored to its original shape at the end after some free-wheeling excursions.


    Cassation was Martin Lodge’s first orchestral work. It was commissioned by the Wellington Chamber Orchestra, which gave the premiere in 1990.

  • Availability

Bryony Jagger  

Childbirth

Duration: 11' 00" Year: 1979
tone poem for cor anglais and orchestra

Craig Utting  

Cirrus

Duration: 10' 00" Year: 2002
for orchestra

Craig Utting  

Collages

Duration: 13' 00" Year: 1992
for twelve violas

Robin Toan  

Concertino

Duration: 11' 00" Year: 2010
for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and orchestra

John Ritchie  

Concertino for Clarinet and String Orchestra

Duration: 14' 00" Year: 1957

David Hamilton  

Concertino for Oboe and Strings

Duration: 12' 00" Year: 2012
for solo oboe and string orchestra

  • Programme Note

    This short work grew out of the middle movement. Originally composed for violin and strings, “Memorial” was first performed in a version for oboe and strings by the chamber orchestra of St Mary’s College, Auckland. It was suggested I might like to expand this into a larger work for oboe and strings, given there was a fine young oboe player in the school.

    The completed concertino consists of a traditional three movement form: fast-slow-fast. The first movement has elements of Baroque period writing in it, including a short fugal section based on the opening melody. The second movement, “Memorial”, is a slow and poignant movement written at a time when New Zealand was experiencing a number of tragedies – the Pike River mining tragedy and the Christchurch earthquakes. The final movement, “Hoe-Down”, is a complete contrast, being a purely fun and rhythmic piece of writing suggesting the music of the old time western USA.

  • Availability

Anthony Young  

Concertino for Orchestra

Duration: 10' 00" Year: 2005, r. 2010

  • Instrumentation
    22*22; 4331; timp., perc. (2 or 3), hp; strings
  • Programme Note

    This piece is affectionately known as ‘Bugs’ or ‘the Bug piece’ to me, and that is what it is about: the wonderful creepy crawlies native to New Zealand. Motivation for writing this piece came from two sources. As part of my residency with the Auckland Philharmonia in 2004, I was required to write a piece for a concert specifically at children and families. Naturally, it needed simple structures, lots of energy and a bit of fun.

    The second motivation with regard to a specific programme was a love for all native New Zealand fauna, and not just beautiful birds. So much music has been written with bird song or in celebration of New Zealand’s landscape. But nothing to my knowledge had been written about the humble creatures which often inspire revulsion rather than awe. Despite their not so cuddly appearance, native insects and invertebrates are just as fascinating and unique to these islands of ours as any other endemic wildlife.

    The first movement is Giant Weta. Often the most notorious for exciting disgust, these magnificent insects are quite amazing, but all to often fall prey to introduced mammals.

    The second movement is titled Giant Snails. Native giant snails are enormous, and often live in kauri trees, or feed on giant earthworms on the forest floor.

    The Nelson Cave Spider is a extremely unique creature. Like so many other creatures and plant life of New Zealand, it is a relic of ancient times and preserved by New Zealand’s isolation.

    Finally, perhaps the most unusual of all is the Peripatus, sometimes known as the velvet worm, a blue centipede-like creature that crawls through undergrowth in search of prey.

  • Availability

Anthony Ritchie  

Concertino for Piano and Strings

Duration: 13' 00" Year: 1982

Anthony Ritchie  

Concerto for Three: 'Coming of Age'

Duration: 12' 00" Year: 1988
for flute, violin, cello and strings