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Peter Willis  

Anxome

Duration: 04' 10" Year: 2004
for B flat bass clarinet

  • Programme Note

    The title Anxome is a contraction of the word “manxome”, from the phrase in Lewis Carroll’s The Jabberwocky: “long time his manxome foe he sought”. The piece is descriptive of a state of mind: at times anxious and shy, but also playful and cheeky. It was premiered in The Committee’s ‘Lightshift’ concert. Andrew Uren performed it from a high balcony, behind the audience, who were in the dark.

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James Gardner  

Charge

Duration: 02' 00" Year: 1997, r. 2001
for solo bassoon

  • Programme Note

    This short piece was originally written as a twenty-1st birthday present for clarinettist Esther Smaill. The melodic fragment heard at the outset soon skitters over its own unstable surface, mutates into fanfare-like repetitions, is spliced with momentary cantabile inserts, is interrupted by slow motion signposts, and blows itself out in a final burst of energy.

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James Gardner  

Charge

Duration: 01' 00" Year: 1997, r. 1999
for any member of the oboe family

  • Programme Note

    This short piece was written as a twenty-first birthday present for clarinettist Esther Smaill. The melodic fragment heard at the outset soon skitters over its own unstable surface, mutates into fanfare-like repetitions, is spliced with momentary cantabile inserts, is interrupted by slow motion signposts, and blows itself out in a final burst of energy.

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James Gardner  

Charge

Duration: 01' 00" Year: 1997
for any member of the clarinet family

James Instone  

Circo II

Duration: 03' 00" Year: 1996
for bass clarinet

  • Programme Note

    Circo II was written in 1996 during the composer’s course of postgraduate study at the University of Canterbury and is dedicated to Deborah Ashworth, a bass clarinettist from Wellington, who gave its first performances. The inspiration for Circo II was the desire to explore the range of sounds of a lesser-used instrument, sounds which may appear very unlike a bass clarinet. Compositions by William O.Smith (USA) and Peter Scholes (NZ) were influential during the composition of the work. The bass clarinet begins, singing in its uppermost register, rather like a male voice in its falsetto register. Soon it descends to its deepest notes, eventually breaking out in a display of harmonics, trills and ‘colour fingerings’. The work ends as it began, returning to the smooth vocal lines.

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Hugh Dixon  

Duo

Duration: 02' 00"
for clarinet and bassoon

Bryony Jagger  

Epithalamium 1

Duration: 03' 00" Year: 1993
for treble recorder

Yvette Audain  

Felix the Cat: The Magic Bag

Duration: 01' 00" Year: 2008
for wind quintet

Chris Adams  

Flight - Lost in an urban(e) jungle

Duration: 03' 30" Year: 2008
for solo E flat clarinet

Anthony Ritchie  

Flute Sonata

Duration: 04' 00" Year: 2008
for flute and piano

  • Programme Note

    The first movement is characterized by strong accents and motor rhythms. A wedged-shape opening theme is contrasted with a darker, smoother second theme. The movement has traces of sonata form though the structure is treated with freedom. A mysterious middle section builds to a climax, leading to a highly truncated and varied recapitulation.

    In the second movement a florid flute melody contrasts with a heavy chordal motif on the piano. The somber mood is lightened a little by a higher pitched second idea that, nonetheless, has a rather sinister character. Towards the end, the flute part becomes freer in rhythm, like a small cadenza, and anticipates ideas in the third movement.


    This final movement is connected to the second without a break, and is dance-like in mood. A quirky opening theme builds to a more robust second idea. As these ideas are developed a waltz-like section appears on the piano, contrasted with a more lyrical theme on flute. A reversed recapitulation of themes leads to a quicker coda, and the work ends with a flourish.

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