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Chaos of Delight IV continues my series of works inspired by NZ birdsong (Chaos of Delight I for bass clarinet, Chaos of Delight II for soprano, Chaos of Delight III for women’s voices) and in this case is a short, theatrical duo written especially for the talents of my colleagues Luca Manghi and Ben Hoadley. Some more recognizable birdcalls are: the thrush calls played by piccolo; the Paradise Duck in the bassoon; the Kokako played by both in unison and the Little Blue Penguin in the fluttertongued basson.

The work was premiered by the duo on October 22nd, 2008 in Auckland.

• de Castro-Robinson: Chaos of Delight IV; facsimile 

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The name hihi (“stitchbird”) has an onomatopoeiac quality which suggests the insistent call of this bird which is urgent, penetrating and strong. Hearing the striking call of the “hihi” on Tiritiri Matangi in the Hauraki Gulf inspired this piece.

• Bowater: Hihi; computer set 

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• Bowater: Hihi; computer set 

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• NZ Premieres 2008 Vol. 1 

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• Love's Nature  Year: 2011 

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The title In Memoriam relates to the many things and people from our individual and shared pasts that shape us and make us the way we are. It is a piece that draws on music from the past, particularly early European music and also the native birdsong and sounds of the New Zealand bush.

• Adams, C.: In Memoriam; computer-set 

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• Chris Adams: In memoriam - Wellington Youth Orchestra 

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Like my piano solo Where the river flows, Otari (2004) for solo harp is inspired by one of my favourite Wellington places, Otari Bush near my home, which is a peaceful soundworld of birdsong, pools of stillness, and ebb and flow of wind and stream. The chorale-like theme that emerges towards the end is based on my Te Puna Waiora (Spring of Living Water).

Overall, Otari is shaped by some words in T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets: " At the still point, there the dance is.."

This work is dedicated to Carolyn Mills, principal harpist for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, whose innovative and enthusiastic collaboration enabled me to explore some extended harp techniques as part of the composing process. In March 2005, Otari was premiered in United States and since then it has received several performances in New Zealand and the United States as well as at three international Harp Festivals – London, San Francisco and Adelaide.

• Fisher: Otari; computer-set 

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• Fisher: Otari; computer-set 

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• New Zealand Selection 2 

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“Today, New Zealand Forests are quiet but in 1770 Joseph Banks wrote thus about Queen Charlotte Sound: ‘This morn I was awkd by the singing of the birds ashore……the numbers of them were certainly very great……’ He would be shocked at the silence that greets the dawn there now.” The Lost world of the Moa – Worthy and Holdaway. "Aotearoa’s multitude of birds performed that symphony each dawn for over sixty million years. It was a glorious riot of sound with its own special meaning for it was in confirmation of the health of a wondrous and unique ecosystem. To my regret, I arrived in New Zealand in the late twentieth century to find most of the orchestra seats empty. Walking through the ancient forest…….I heard nothing but the whisper of leaves blowing in the wind. It was like the rustle of the last curtain fall on an orchestra that will be no more.’ Tim Flannery – Future Eaters

• Harris: Silence greets the dawn; computer set 

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• Harris: Silence greets the dawn; computer-set 

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• Ross Harris: Silence Greets the Dawn; video 

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In his 1974 collection ‘The lives of a Cell’, Lewis Thomas wrote a memorable essay devoted to the spectrum of sound made by all living creatures. He believes that as well as producing sounds in every possible way to send messages to their own kind, all creatures have the urge to make some kind of music. The rhythmic sounds emitted by all creatures might, Lewis suggests ‘be the recapitulation of something else – an earliest memory, a score for the transformation of inanimate random matter in chaos into the improbable ordered dance of living forms.’ It was this essay, together with my fascination in the rediscovery of the part of Auckland I knew as a young child, that have shaped this piece.

The basis of the piece is the twelve possible three-note groups which function to form molecular structures – harmonic, textural, gestural, melodic – some simple, some complex, often symmetrical. The piece could be regarded as part of a classical tradition, in that it focuses primarily on balance of pitch and orchestration rather than on gesture or programmatic elements, and places the instrumental writing well within the range of the instruments rather than exploiting their extremes.

The improbable ordered dance is in a single movement and begins with a ghostly chant-like melody over a drone; this recurs in different forms several times during the piece. A transition section based on transformed sounds of nocturnal birds leads to a metrically free ‘dawn chorus’. The following chorale-like passages and the rapid sections that follow are part of a restless upward-moving continuum which can never settle nor ever finish. The later sections of the piece recycle, combine and finally dissipate the earlier material.

• Whitehead: the improbable ordered dance; computer 

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• Gillian Whitehead: the improbable ordered dance; audio 

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• Premieres: Poynton, Ritchie, Whitehead 

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• Gillian Whitehead: Various Works 

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• Whitehead: Bright Silence 

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Twitter portrays the sounds of birds that I heard in Western Park, Freemans Bay while running my dog. In this heightened reality you can hear a plethora of birds, ranging from small chirpy sparrows and mynahs to large more sonorous pigeons and magpies. Often the exuberant character of my dog slips in as well while he chases after birds. Throughout the piece I have used chromatic melodies and added note chords to depict the diverse pitches made by birds and syncopated rhythms to reflect the erratic nature of bird song.

The first movement has a bouncy feel to it. There is a reoccurring motif played by the soprano saxophone that is present much of the way throughout the movement. The added note chords and syncopated rhythms give off a jazzy vibe towards the end. I imagine the birds to be having a good time despite being teased by my Yorkshire terrier.

I have titled second movement the birds at at dusk. The movement opens with birds twittering which is characterized by flutter tonguing and sustained notes. Out of this comes a languid melody played by the saxophone. As time progresses the melody is passed around the instruments and the supporting notes grow into chords. The movement ends as the birds roost.

An active and insistent character saturates the final movement. The birds are darting around in all directions fighting over crumbs left by school kids at lunchtime and my buoyant companion is never out of the action chasing after them as they take flight. The movement is dominated by florid runs by the entire ensemble and syncopated rhythms that provide an unsteady platform for the pandemonium.

Robin Toan

• Toan: Twitter; computer-set 

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• Toan: Twitter; computer-set 

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• Toan: Twitter; computer-set 

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• Toan: Twitter; computer-set 

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