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I did intend to sit down and compose an orchestral epic. I really, really DID, honest. Could I help it that as soon as I made that decision, the saxes started up a 1920s tea dance in my computer?! Only it’s not all sweetness and light and good ol’ days, in fact it sometimes gets a little murky in there, to say the least…

• Audain: A Charleston Kick With Steel Caps; computer-set 

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• Audain: A Charleston Kick With Steel Caps; computer-set 

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• Two works by Yvette Audain 

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Commissioned in 2000 by the NZTrio, A Feather of Blue takes its title from a phrase in a poem called A View From A Window by New Zealand writer Kevin Ireland. I have always admired the wry humour and brightness of Kevin Ireland’s writing and many years ago set three of his poems for soprano and mixed ensemble. As a kind gesture Mr Ireland sent me a copy of his book of poems Skinning A Fish, and I was particularly struck by the imagery of colours, flowers, feathers and birds in this poem, which illustrates rain pouring down a window pane and giving way to a burst of sunshine after a storm.

Maria Grenfell

• Grenfell: A Feather of Blue; computer-set 

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• Grenfell: A Feather of Blue; computer-set 

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• Grenfell: A Feather of Blue; computer-set 

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• Grenfell: A Feather of Blue; computer-set 

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• New Zealand Trio - Spark  Year: 2004 

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The overall conception of the piece is underpinned by an evolving, wave-like movement – continuous cycles stretching/compressing/proliferating. There is a strong connection to the sea, as in [… and…11], composed in 2002. A passacaglia of seven chords, gradually permutating until they eventually assemble into reverse order, form the ground or ‘canvas’. The various textural and linear surfaces of the piece all emerge from this ground as reflections, extensions, compressions, or distillations of the core material. Quarter-tones (division of the chromatic scale into 24 tones instead of the usual 12) enrich and intensify the harmony while rendering it more tactile and less pitch-defined.

Review:

“The 7-minute a gentle infinity…is both atmospheric and deft in Ker’s handling of a large orchestra, subtly dynamic (not least in the use of percussion), edgily communicative, and vibrant in its imagery; a piece full of good things, arguably cut off prematurely. Conducted by Pavel Kotla, the LSO once again suggested that Ker (in attendance) is a composer to watch out for.”

-Colin Anderson, www.classicalsource.com

• Dorothy Ker: a gentle infinity - hardcopy score 

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• Dorothy Ker: a gentle infinity - downloadable PDF 

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• Dorothy Ker: a gentle infinity - hire set 

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NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION 2010: Stop writing dishonest programme notes.

This work was conceived in the abstract and does not relate to human experience. It does not illustrate the composer’s state of mind, he having suddenly found himself awake in the middle of the night, unable to control his thoughts. While the experience of insomnia, especially when suffered over consecutive nights, can be physically and emotionally crippling, at times the abundance and insistence of multiple streams of unwanted thought (unruly Beta waves) can be, if not pleasurable, then certainly fascinating. This piece does not seek to illustrate this through music, nor does it sonically pose this question: why does the brain seize control of the consciousness and produce such a plethora of unwanted activity that sleep is made impossible and the host becomes miserable?

At times, certain thoughts seem to somehow rise above the melee of insomniac thought and become quite focused and of seeming import, however inane these might seem in the cold light of day. This is not portrayed in the music by infrequent parings-down of texture and emergence of single, insistent motivic ideas. The music doesn’t describe how such thoughts soon get swallowed up as the jumble of thoughts returns and the victim adjusts position once again, glancing desperately at his or her clock radio and resolving hopelessly to try to make yet another attempt at deep breathing and sheep counting work.

The composer could claim that the work is about these things, but that would be a lie; he no longer wishes to construct programme notes after the act of composition that conform to some conceivable extra-musical agenda.

This version of this work is the first of a number of versions, with another swapping cello for viola and another as a solo guitar piece currently projected.

The work was requested by Dylan Lardelli and is dedicated to this increasingly mythic musician.

• Watson, C.: about nothing...really; computer-set 

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• Watson, C.: about nothing...really; computer-set 

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• Watson, C.: about nothing...really; computer-set 

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• Watson, C.: about nothing...really; computer-set 

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• Chris Watson: about nothing...really; video 

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• Chris Watson: about nothing...really; video 

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In 1970, at the height of the Vietnam War, Canadian band the Guess Who released the song American Woman. The album of the same name became their first U.S. Top Ten hit and first gold album. The group performed for President and Mrs. Nixon and Prince Charles at the White House. (Pat Nixon requested that American Woman be dropped from the set list.)

In recomposing American Woman I was thinking of two wars: the Iraq war and the strange war against the body waged by the American beauty industry. The war in Iraq costs over $2 billion per week while Americans spend more than $15 billion per year on cosmetic surgery. In 2004 nearly 12 million surgical and non-surgical beauty procedures were performed in the U.S., including more than 290,000 eyelid jobs, 166,000 nose jobs, 478,000 liposuctions and 334,000 breast enhancements. In The Real Truth About Beauty: A Global Report, Susie Orbach and Nancy Etcoff found that only two percent of women feel comfortable describing themselves as beautiful.

American Woman has been covered by Lenny Kravitz, Krokus and the The Butthole Surfers, among others. This version was commissioned by Motion Ensemble with funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.

• Palmer: American Woman; computer set 

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• Palmer: American Woman; computer set 

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• Palmer: American Woman; computer set 

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“I enjoyed playing the first performance of ‘An Irksome Vengeance’ with Yvette. The piece explores quite complex rhythmic patterns at a high level of expertise, calling to mind jazzy and folk-type drive with well-executed lyrical connections. The audience seemed to relate warmly to the work, so I think it is well deserving of future airings." – Katherine Hebley, cellist, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and 175 East

This piece was largely informed by my involvement in the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s Remix the Orchestra courses, during which fascinating syntheses of classical and hip-hop musics are created.

I have an all-encompassing view of music and have never shied away from influences outside the ‘classical’ genre: in this short work can also be heard a fleeting post-grunge-informed bassline and maybe, even, a slight tinge of progressive rock.

It recently occurred to me that many of us have a rap song from our formative years to which we know, if not ALL the words, at least most (often entirely despite ourselves!). Upon rediscovering Monie Love’s It’s a Shame (chorus originally recorded by the Spinners and written by Stevie Wonder), the phrase ‘an irksome vengeance’ jumped out at me from the lyrics.

Upon catching up with a former mentor prior to the composition of this work, I was reminded of the concept of a ‘groove-based’ piece, and to this end I have tried not to let the basic pulse abate for too long at a time, so as to create as much continuity as possible.

Yvette Audain

• Audain: An Irksome Vengeance; computer-set 

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• Audain: An Irksome Vengeance; computer-set 

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• Yvette Audain: An Irksome Vengeance 

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• Rimmer: Arioso-Spiritoso; computer-set 

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• Rimmer: Arioso-Spiritoso; computer-set 

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• Adams, C.: Athena's Nymphs and the Downfall of Troy; computer-set 

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• Adams, C.: Athena's Nymphs and the Downfall of Troy; computer-set 

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Taken from the Spanish word ‘Alborada’, Aubade (dawn) references Ravel’s great work Alborada del Gracioso. Opening with slow lyrical section the mood ranges between languid and energetic, contrasting the opening material with characterful Allegro sections. Originally composed for clarinet and piano, the piece was later orchestrated for Frank Gurr, at that time principal clarinet of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

• Carr: Aubade; computer-set 

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• New Works for Clarinet and Piano - Anna McGregor, Emma Sayers and Buz Bryant-Greene 

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Bout is inspired by the sport of women’s boxing. In an interview with Canadian boxing pioneer Savoy “Kapow” Howe, I was struck by her detailed demonstration of the inner monologue of a fighter. Melodic and rhythmic material from her words insinuate themselves into the piece, along with referee’s whistles, counts and bells, training routines and the dogged persistence of the fighter.

Bout: A round at fighting; a contest, match, trial of strength, physical or intellectual.

• Palmer: Bout; computer set 

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• Palmer: Bout; computer set  

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• Palmer: Bout; computer set 

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• Juliet Palmer: Bout 

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