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David Farquhar  

Bells in their Seasons

Duration: 25' 00" Year: 1974
for double choir and orchestra

Anthony Ritchie  

From the Southern Marches

Duration: 2h 00' 00" Year: 1997
for choir, soprano, alto, tenor and bass soloists and orchestra

  • Programme Note

    From the Southern Marches was the brain-child of George Griffiths, historian and owner of Otago Heritage Books in Dunedin. He writes: ‘For many years I’d pondered the nature of the southern region and the people who live in it – particularly the contradictory characteristics passed on from our Scots forebears, with their unrelenting capacity for hard work and their uncertain trust in the rewards to be gained from it. In a broader view, it seemed the development of a southern character was a story so rich in human spirit and diversity that it demanded some kind of expression.’ The ‘kind of expression’ depended very much on George’s choice of texts which come from a wide variety of sources, ranging from old Maori chants to more recent poetry.

    The work progresses more or less in a chronological manner, but avoids becoming a potted history of the south. Each text from each particular era focuses on a special characteristic of the time – whether it is the reckless optimism of the gold miners in the 1860s, or the grim reality of the needle-workers in the 1880s who were virtual slaves. George has drawn on a rich variety of ideas and texts, so that more serious items are contrasted with humour, as in Thatcher’s The Old Identity or ‘King’ Dick Seddon’s political speech. Some items involve text with existent tunes, and the music becomes an arrangement (as is the case with The Old Identity). Sometimes these tunes are just a starting point for lengthy elaboration, as in Bright Fine Gold, based on the tune for Hot Cross Buns.

    From the Southern Marches has a format that is similar to oratorio, with alternations between solo vocal items and choruses, with the addition of two purely orchestral sections. There is even references to the ‘recitative’ style in The Jubilee, Southern Education and elsewhere. It runs to almost two hours in length, and is divided into two halves.

    Such was the success of the premiere in March 1998, From the Southern Marches was repeated in December of the same year, this time with Dobbs Franks conducting. In 1998, Otago Heritage Books won a Special Merit Award in the National Business Review’s Business Sponsorship of the Arts Awards .

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Ronald Dellow  

Hail To The Lord's Annointed

Duration: 03' 00" Year: 1983
for SATB choir and organ

Aroha Yates-Smith   Gillian Whitehead  

Taiohi taiao

Duration: 11' 00" Year: 2004
for SSAATBB choir with koauau

  • Instrumentation
    upper bass voice are baritones; taonga puoro includes koauau koiwi kuri
  • Programme Note

    Na Aroha Yates-Smith koropupu ake ana nga wai o te matapuna he wai matao he wai reka ki te korokoro he wai tohi i te punua waiora waimarama wairua te puna o te tangata te putanga mai o nga reanga hei poipoi I nga taonga tuku iho pukenga wananga manaaki tangata tiaki whenua tamaiti taiohi taiao.

    Bubbling upwards rise the waters from the spring cool, refreshing water fluid delighting the taste buds blessing the young water – life-giving, clear – the spirit. The springs of humankind producing generations who will nurture their inheritance learning from the storehouse of knowledge hospitality/generosity to all guardianship of the land Child Youth Universe. The waiata acknowledges the vital role natural springs have in providing clean, delicious drinking water, which nourishes humankind and the wider environment. The water is also used in traditional and contemporary forms of blessing our young. The line “waiora waimarama wairua” refers to the life-giving force of the water, its clarity and purity, and the spiritual essence which pervades it and every life force. The second verse focuses on the importance of generation after generation preserving all that is important: “Te puna o te tangata” refers to the fountain of humankind, that is, the womb which produces the future progeny of our people. From woman is born humankind: generations of people who continue to nurture and maintain those treasures passed down through eons of time: knowledge and wisdom, the importance of caring for others and looking after the environment. The final line, “tamaiti taiohi taiao”, creates a link between the (tiny) infant, youth and the wider environment, and ultimately the Universe.

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Anthony Ritchie  

Then I Understood

Duration: 23' 00" Year: 1996
for choir and orchestra