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Christopher Blake  

Clairmont Triptych

Duration: 15' 00" Year: 1988
for wind quintet and piano

  • Instrumentation
    flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon and piano
  • Programme Note

    Clairmont Triptych was written in fulfilment of a commission by Chamber Music New Zealand for the Auckland Wind Quintet with pianist David Guerin to perform on a New Zealand tour in 1988.

    The music derives its inspiration and impetus from the work of the New Zealand painter Phillip Clairmont (1949 – 1984). He was something of an enfant terrible of the New Zealand art world, living his life and his painting with a reckless passion and energy. His work is vibrant and strong, conveying an intense and energetic power. Aspects of these elements are captured in the music, although it is not programmatic, but connects with paintings through analogy and allusion. Amongst the profusion of themes and ideas there are two prominent recurrent subjects in Clairmont’s work – the domestic interior and the self portrait. These form the thematic base of the first two of the three inter-linked movements of the work. The first movement, Interiors, mirrors the fractured vibrancy of the Clairmont interiors by use of a very fast toccata-like movement in sequences of fluctuating tempo. This creates a continuously “flexing” aural effect which reflects the unsettling quality of the images. The second movement, Self Portraits, uses a recurring three note motif C-B-Bb. These are the composer’s initials (C-H-B in German), thus the self portrait becomes ambiguous. The music seeks to realise to an extent the technique and viewpoint of the self portraits. The third movement, Jimi Rocks, refers to the influence of rock music on Clairmont’s painting, particularly during his studies and the early part of his career in Christchurch. The three movement formal structure is a musical equivalent of the triptych format Clairmont often used in his painting.

  • Availability

Juliet Palmer  

How it Happened

Duration: 15' 00" Year: 2010
for narrator and ensemble

  • Instrumentation
    for bass clarinet in Bb, alto flute
    percussion — kick-drum, snare drum, low tom-tom, low woodblock, high woodblock, medium cowbell (muted), hi-hat, high ride cymbal, medium splash cymbal, thin metal sheet, cabasa, rainstick, tibetan bowl (F if possible), vibraphone, marimba;
    narrator — amplified with microphone and/or paper megaphone and power megaphone;
    piano (nylon fishing line rosined), violin and violoncello
  • Programme Note

    “In the beginning, there was nothing. Just the water.”
    “But where did all the water come from?”

    Throughout Thomas King’s novel the character of the trickster Coyote reappears, hopelessly bamboozled, trying to learn what really happened when the world began. Who knows the Real Story? Coyote would like to think he does, but then there’s Coyote’s Dream – “gets loose and runs around. Makes a lot of noise”. Coyote’s Dream has his own idea about things: “I’m in charge of the world”. By the end of the piece, you’ll be wondering where all that water came from…

  • Availability

Juliet Palmer  

Mother Hubbard

Duration: 15' 00" Year: 2001
for chamber ensemble and CD

Juliet Palmer  

Mother Hubbard: f_mix

Duration: 16' 00" Year: 2003
for chamber ensemble

David Hamilton  

Philagree

Duration: 18' 00" Year: 1981
for oboe, 2 violins, viola, cello and double bass

John Elmsly  

Ritual Auras

Duration: 15' 00" Year: 1982
for flute, horn, percussion, piano, violin and cello

  • Programme Note

    Ritual Auras was created using repeated blocks of rugged instrumental colour. These suggested the title but also shape the piece: the music combines ritornello and variation forms to produce sound halos whose nexus is a solo flute passage heard part way through. Although the score is fully notated there are many places where players have freedom to interact and respond to each other. It should be listened to as a series of sculptural explorations of implicit radiance, or a succession of views of personality.

    Notes taken from Ritual Auras, Atoll CD (ACD 842)

  • Availability

Andra Patterson  

Sextet

Duration: 16' 00" Year: 1991
for oboe, trumpet, trombone, violin, double bass and piano