Sub Navigation

Search Music:

Search for music by typing a word or phrase in the box below or by selecting one or more categories from the list on the side.

Or search for products by selecting an option below, and typing a word or phrase in the box above

  • Scores
  • CDs and DVDs
  • Downloads
  • Education Resources

Eric Biddington  

A Little Scherzo

 Year: 2009
for double bass and piano

John Psathas  

Abhisheka

Duration: 08' 00" Year: 1996
for string quartet

  • Programme Note

    “The sanskrit equivalent for initiation is abhisheka, meaning ‘sprinkle’, ‘pour’, ‘anointment’. And if there is pouring, there must be a vessel into which the pouring can fall. So at last we might really give up all these complications and just allow some space, just give in. This is the moment when abhisheka – sprinkling and pouring – really takes place, because we are open and are really giving up the whole attempt to do anything, giving up all the busyness and overcrowding. Finally we have been forced to really stop properly, which is quite a rare occurrence for us.”

    (Taken from Chogyam Trungpa’s Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism, from album Nederlands Blazers Ensemble: Zeibekiko, NBECD014).

    The composer writes: ”Drafted immediately after reading a book by the Buddhist guru Chögyam Trungpa, Abhisheka was my first-ever attempt at writing music with space in it. Until this piece, practically everything I had written was ultra-caffeinated, fast, full of notes, and murder on performers. But having been (albeit temporarily) inspired by the great truths and peace in Trungpa’s writing, I found myself navigating slower passages of musical time, as well as exploring the microcosm of inner space between the even intervals of our chromatic tuning system.”

    Abhisheka by John Psathas was chosen for the list of string quartets in 2000 for ‘IAMIC Sounds of the Year’. The composer has also prepared versions of Abhisheka for mixed chamber ensemble, this version performed by Manos Achalinotopoulos, Vangelis Karipis and Nederlands Blazers Ensemble at Paradiso, in Amsterdam in 2004, and for string orchestra (2008).

    Programme note from the New Zealand String Quartet’s 2012 New Zealand at Kings Place concert.

  • Availability

John Rimmer  

Bowed Insights

Duration: 10' 00" Year: 1993
for string quartet

Bill Barclay  

Circular Concerto

Duration: 15' 00" Year: 1988
for string quartet

Sam Piper  

Dance of the Sidhe

 Year: 1996
for string quartet

David Farquhar  

Dance Suite from "Ring Round the Moon"

Duration: 19' 00" Year: 1953, r. 1992
for violin and piano

John Elmsly  

Dialogue V

Duration: 12' 00" Year: 1997
for violin and piano

  • Programme Note

    Dialogue V for violin and piano was commissioned by Miranda Adams and Ingrid Wahlberg for performance in the Auckland Chamber Music Society Concert Series in the Sky City Theatre, May 1997. Subsequent performances have included one by Miranda Adams and Tatiana Lanchtchikova in the International Festival of the Arts in Wellington.

    These are pieces for dreaming and contemplative enjoyment, so I simply state the titles as suggestions and leave the rest to the imagination: my images need not be those of the listener.

  • Availability

Arnold Trowell  

Duet in B flat major


for two cellos

Arnold Trowell  

Duet in D major


for two cellos

Chloe Moon  

Duo for Two Violins

Duration: 07' 00" Year: 1980
for two violins