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Anthony Young  

Concertino for Orchestra

Duration: 10' 00" Year: 2005, r. 2010

  • Instrumentation
    22*22; 4331; timp., perc. (2 or 3), hp; strings
  • Programme Note

    This piece is affectionately known as ‘Bugs’ or ‘the Bug piece’ to me, and that is what it is about: the wonderful creepy crawlies native to New Zealand. Motivation for writing this piece came from two sources. As part of my residency with the Auckland Philharmonia in 2004, I was required to write a piece for a concert specifically at children and families. Naturally, it needed simple structures, lots of energy and a bit of fun.

    The second motivation with regard to a specific programme was a love for all native New Zealand fauna, and not just beautiful birds. So much music has been written with bird song or in celebration of New Zealand’s landscape. But nothing to my knowledge had been written about the humble creatures which often inspire revulsion rather than awe. Despite their not so cuddly appearance, native insects and invertebrates are just as fascinating and unique to these islands of ours as any other endemic wildlife.

    The first movement is Giant Weta. Often the most notorious for exciting disgust, these magnificent insects are quite amazing, but all to often fall prey to introduced mammals.

    The second movement is titled Giant Snails. Native giant snails are enormous, and often live in kauri trees, or feed on giant earthworms on the forest floor.

    The Nelson Cave Spider is a extremely unique creature. Like so many other creatures and plant life of New Zealand, it is a relic of ancient times and preserved by New Zealand’s isolation.

    Finally, perhaps the most unusual of all is the Peripatus, sometimes known as the velvet worm, a blue centipede-like creature that crawls through undergrowth in search of prey.

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John Rimmer  

Manukau Refrains

Duration: 13' 00" Year: 2007
for three percussionists and orchestra

  • Instrumentation
    2222;2200;3 perc;harp;strings perc 1: timp, large susp. cym., snare,guiro,large log drum, small rain stick perc 2: marimba, medium suspended cymbal, snare drum, guiro, medium log drum perc 3: vibraphone, small suspended cymbal, snare drum, guiro, small log drum
  • Programme Note

    ‘Manukau Refrains’ is a delicate, colourful piece for 3 percussionists and community orchestra inspired by images of wading birds (‘manukau’), shifting patterns of water and sand in an environment teeming with life. In performance, the percussionists are spaced apart with the timpani in their usual position at the rear of the orchestra and the marimba and vibraphone in front of the orchestra. Each percussionist also plays a variety of small non-tuned instruments such as guiros, small drums and Pacific log drums. After a soft introduction, the ‘refrain’ begins as a short rhythmic pattern played by the timpani and is extended on each of its repetitions. Gradually instruments from the orchestra are drawn into this activity which accelerates as the piece progresses. The music builds to a climax followed by a short coda which reminisces on the mood of the opening.

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