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Alexander Cowdell  

A Place of Quiet

Duration: 15' 00" Year: 1987
for solo tenor and chamber orchestra

  • Instrumentation
    flute/picc., 2 clar. (2nd dbls bass cl.); tpt; strings
  • Programme Note

    This composition is a setting of a poem by the Australian philosopher, poet and musician Melvyn Cann. The first part describes a spiritual journey through suffering to transcendence and peace. The second part describes a state of consciousness where both thought and time cease, and only feeling remains.

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Mike Nock  

Aotearoa

Duration: 40' 00" Year: 1981
suite for jazz piano and chamber orchestra

Bryony Jagger  

Are You Waiting?

 Year: 2005
for solo bass clarinet and small orchestra

  • Instrumentation
    solo bass clarinet, piccolo, oboe, contrabassoon and strings
  • Programme Note

    “Are you waiting?” is one of several orchestral tone poems I am writing inspired by poems written by the Auckland poet Richard Taylor. This piece for solo bass clarinet and orchestra, written in September 2005, was inspired by Richard Taylor’s poem: “I am waiting” (from Richard Taylor’s book “Singing in the slaughterhouse” privately published in 1991).

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Chloe Moon  

Concertino

Duration: 15' 00" Year: 1983
for flute and chamber orchestra

David Hamilton  

Concertino For Percussion and Chamber Orchestra

Duration: 07' 55" Year: 2009
for percussion and chamber orchestra

  • Instrumentation
    for solo percussion: triangle (medium size), cow bell, three suspended cymbals (small, medium and large), four temple blocks, a pair of bongos, four roto-toms and xylophone (or marimba); 3120; tenor sax; 0221(opt.); strings
  • Programme Note

    This short work was written for the orchestra of Auckland Grammar School and a talented senior student percussionist. It is in a straight-forward tonal style, including a cadenza for the soloist.

    The work consists of three main ideas. Follow a short introduction the xylophone presents the main melodic material of the first idea. The 2nd main idea is chromatic chord that builds through the orchestra several times. Against this the percussion has more angular melodic material and more syncopated rhythmic ideas. The second section builds to a climax which immediately gives way to the 3rd section which is fugal. The melody from the 1st section re-appears, not as the fugue subject, but rather as the counter-subject of the fugue. This section mainly features the woodwind section of the orchestra interacting with the percussionist. The fugue winds down into a short cadenza for the soloist, and then material from the opening two sections is recapitulated in abbreviated form. The music builds to a final climax.

    The percussion part avoids exotic or unusual instruments, favouring basic equipment found in most school music departments with an active instrumental programme. The only tuned percussion instrument is a xylophone, with the remainder being a mix of wood, skin and metal instruments.

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David Farquhar  

Concerto

Duration: 18' 00" Year: 1992
for guitar and chamber orchestra

  • Instrumentation
    1110; 1000; Perc.; strings (clar. in A)
  • Programme Note

    The Concerto was commissioned by Matthew Marshall and the Wellington Regional Orchestra (now Vector Wellington Orchestra), completed in May 1992 for a first performance planned for November 1992, and later postponed until May 1993.

    This work is in three movements (quick – slow – quick), but these are connected by cadenza-like links for the guitar soloist, so that the music is continuous. In view of the balance problems in a guitar concerto I have written for a small orchestra (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, percussion and strings), and treated the relationship between solo and orchestra in a concertante style – sharing material rather than opposing each other, and aiming throughout to make the guitar easily audible. Dance rhythms, with touches of rhumba and jazz, predominate in the quick movements, while the slow central movement uses variable speed tremolo on the guitar to enhance its singing qualities.

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John Ritchie  

Concerto for Alto Saxophone

Duration: 17' 00" Year: 1998
for E flat saxophone and small orchestra

Gillian Whitehead  

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Duration: 30' 00" Year: 1982
for mezzo and chamber orchestra

Chris Gendall  

Epithets

 Year: 2008
for soprano and chamber orchestra

Patrick Shepherd  

Flute Concerto

 Year: 1999, r. 2002
for solo flute and orchestra

  • Instrumentation
    1121; 1000; timp, perc: claves, triangle, snare drum, whip, bongoes, xylophone, vibraphone and marimba; strings
  • Programme Note

    A sense of optimism pervades this work – remarkable considering that during the writing of it some of my worst fears were realised. I lost my father and find it hard to reconcile myself to his passing, yet he lives on in me and for that I am grateful.

    To Steve and to Edwin I say farewell, too – Steve was a friend, colleague and the bass player in my band, dying tragically young in a road accident the week before my father died. Edwin Raymond was a significant influence in my teenage years and I am only sorry that I did not write this sooner so he could have conducted it.

    The piece is not, however, about death. It is not gloomy. The middle movements are reflective and peaceful and the outer movements are lively and rhythmic. If there is an optimistic side of death it is that life becomes more intense and more meaningful. The spirit of the finale is testament to this, ending the work vigorously and on an optimistic note.

    The concerto was premiered on 7 November 1999 with Carol Hohauser as soloist, accompanied by the Da Capo Chamber Orchestra under conductor Mark Hodgkinson. The concerto was revised significantly in 2002 for the Russian premiere in May 2002 with the Kuzbass Symphony Orchestra. The work was written for Carol and I thank her for her enthusiasm, musicianship and for believing in my work.

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