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Te Ahukaramū Charles Royal  

Baxter Songs

Duration: 09' 50" Year: 2010
A setting of three poems by James K Baxter for baritone and piano.

  • Programme Note

    ‘Baxter Songs’ is a setting of three poems by James K Baxter. The three poems are ‘High Country Weather’, ‘Let time be still’ and an extract from ‘Stephanie’. The first two poems were composed early in the poets career and express his more romantic sentiments. When I hear these poems, I think of Baxter as a young poet in the South Island (Otago and Canterbury universities) exploring the Otago hinterland. I think, too, of the early days of his relationship with Jacqui Sturm and imagine the two of them exploring the hills and mountains. The extract from ‘Stephanie’ is from much later in Baxter’s life. He is older now and life has had its way with Baxter (or perhaps the other way around?). The poem follows a family tragedy and there is a sense of heartbreak in the voice.

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Tecwyn Evans  

Elegy for my Grandfather

Duration: 05' 00" Year: 1994
for baritone and piano

Tecwyn Evans  

Prayer in time of Rain

Duration: 05' 00" Year: 1998
for bass voice and piano

Anthony Ritchie  

Rain

Duration: 06' 00" Year: 2008
for baritone and piano

  • Programme Note

    Rain is an iconic poem by Hone Tuwhare, describing beautifully a feature of the weather but also subtly ruminating on death. The setting is quiet and lyrical, with an optional part for a rainmaker (to be played by the singer). This setting for baritone and piano was written for Matt Landreth, and recorded by him. The recording and score were auctioned to raise funds for the Otago Hospice appeal in May 2008. The song was subsequently scored for orchestra and recorded by Matt Landreth and the Auckland Philharmonia.

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Robbie Ellis  

Root Vegetable Opera

Duration: 05' 30" Year: 2012
recitativo ed aria grave for baritone and piano

  • Programme Note

    During my 2012 Mozart Fellowship at the University of Otago, I started monthly gigs in Dunedin under the banner of Song Sale. Saran Goldie-Anderson and Rose Duxfield had founded Song Sale in Wellington as both an exercise for songwriters and an entertaining evening for an audience. It costs nothing for the audience to enter the venue, but anybody can pay five dollars to commission a song on a chosen topic, title and/or genre. One or two of a team of songwriter-performers will take this commission and compose a brand new song. The turnaround time is usually 30-45 minutes.

    The Root Vegetable Opera came about at the June 2012 Song Sale, as a commission from Gabrielle Golding and Suzanne Murphy to write about root vegetables in the style of opera. I penned the lyrics and winged the singing in performance, while Corwin Newall accompanied me with a four-chord ostinato on a keyboard orchestral combi. After the gig, I transcribed this fully realised piano accompaniment and performed with Corwin at subsequent Song Sales. I even presented it at a University of Otago Music Department lunchtime concert, and Elizabeth Bouman reviewed my singing in the Otago Daily Times:
    “His excellent diction and visual interpretation exposed the humour of every line, but the baritone quality is best left unsaid!” (13 September 2012)

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Chris Adams  

Songs from Childhood

Duration: 07' 00" Year: 2000
setting of four poems by Robert Louis Stevenson for bass and piano

Leonie Holmes  

Three Songs for Baritone and Piano

Duration: 08' 00" Year: 1997
a cycle