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Alex Taylor  

burlesques mécaniques

Duration: 11' 00" Year: 2012
ten miniatures for piano trio

  • Instrumentation
    Piano, Violin, Cello
  • Programme Note

    burlesques mécaniques is a rather extroverted collection of grotesque miniatures whose characters are not people or animals but dances. These dances have been mechanised, electrified, and often obscured by their own rhythmic impulse. Old forms and formulaic tropes are given new identities, freed from the confines of metric stability and the expectation that they be “danceable”. The essentially mechanical, artificial aspect of music (and of art in general?) is embodied in the piano, here a brittle, seedy protagonist whose string limbs hover and flail about it. Conflicting rhythms dominate the surface, oscillating between insistent repetition and mad, angular flourishes. The generally jerky, muscular rhythmic material is periodically frozen throughout the work, most strikingly in the ninth movement (chain). Here a string of rich, impressionistic chords briefly reveals an alternative, interior world which is then rudely dismissed in an almost haphazard finale.

  • Availability

Yvette Audain  

Eulogy

Duration: 10' 00" Year: 2010
for full symphony orchestra and narrator

  • Instrumentation
    piccolo, flute, oboe, cor anglais, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon 1 and 2, 3 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, 2 percussionists (crash cymbals, suspended cymbals, roto-toms, claves, rain stick, vibraphone), harp, strings and narrator
  • Programme Note

    I enjoyed performing and recording Eulogy very much. Such a warmth of texture and harmonies which created a sympathetic palette for Olivia Macassey’s word painting” – Kenneth Young

    My decision to set this text for orchestra initially arose, not only from reading the poem and appreciating it for what it is, but also from the recent passing of a dear musician colleague with whom I had collaborated on many early jazz projects.

    However, at time of writing, I have become most un-nerved by the senseless loss of young life that has been occurring with alarming regularity at a couple of schools I have recently taught at. It was with these tremendously sad, sudden passings in mind that I completed my work on the piano short score of Eulogy, before commencing work on its orchestration.

    Yvette Audain

  • Availability

Karlo Margetic  

Lightbox

Duration: 12' 00" Year: 2012
for piano trio

  • Instrumentation
    Violin, Cello and Piano
  • Programme Note

    When I think of a piano trio, I immediately think of a transparent interplay of lines. This has something to do with the fact that the instruments that make up the modern piano trio are not particularly homogeneous, unlike say, a string quartet. It’s as if somebody had strewn some line drawings of simple three dimensional objects on a photographer’s lightbox, all on top of one another, resulting in an unexpected and strangely beautiful assemblage.

  • Availability

Chris Adams  

Mahuika

Duration: 11' 00" Year: 2012
a work for organ and orchestra

  • Instrumentation
    3*3*3*3*; 4331; Timp; 2 Perc.; Organ; Strings
  • Programme Note

    Mahuika for organ and orchestra was, like several of my pieces, given a title in its infancy. In the way that a child grows into her name over time, Mahuika has developed a particular character during the process of writing. The work is not programmatic, but the origins of its name have come to influence the work: Mahuika, a Maori fire goddess, is awakened into her full terrifying extreme, utilising the full range and capacity of both the Auckland Town Hall organ and the Auckland Philharmonia. Mahuika evokes the sense of a young teenage goddess full of ideas and vitality but without the opportunity to yet develop and explore them fully.

    The work has the potential to mature into a full-scale organ symphony of around 30-40 minutes: if anyone is in a position to fund her to grow further please contact me to discuss.

  • Availability

Robbie Ellis  

Relish in Immature Bombast

Duration: 12' 00" Year: 2012
for organ, drum kit & orchestra

  • Instrumentation
    3[1.2.p]33[1.2.Eb]3[1.2.contra]; 4331; timp.; 2 perc.; organ; drum kit; strings (conductor needs a referee's whistle)
  • Programme Note

    In others’ words:

    “ONE TWO!” – Jono Sawyer, drum kit soloist.

    “There’s a specific face that I make when trying not to lose my dignity and I am making that face now.” – Cordelia Black

    “That was weird. Batman and Joker’s love child?” – Rueben Waine

    What were you thinking [of the title]?! It’s just too silly for words.” – Eva Radich

    “This thing is outrageous. Good on you!” – Adrian Hollay, recording engineer for Workshop 3

    “I read that as ‘piece for organ, drunk and orchestra’.” – Justine Pierre


    The composer blogs about this work here: http://www.robbie.co.nz/2012/03/03/orchan-orgestra/

  • Availability

Ryan Youens  

Tiraki

Duration: 10' 00" Year: 2012
for organ and orchestra

  • Instrumentation
    2222; 4331; timp.; 2 perc.; organ; strings
  • Programme Note

    ‘Tiraki’ is a verb meaning ‘to clear the sky of clouds’. In it I have explored the different layerings and textures created between the organ and orchestra, illustrating the nature and behaviour of the clouds. The work is structured in three sections and focuses entirely on the programmatic meaning of ‘Tiraki’.

    The first ‘rather angry’ section is very dense and fast moving with surprises along the way – representing a storm. The middle ‘mysteriously calm’ section is the calm after the storm – the music empties out but retains a slightly ominous feel to it. It finishes with a ‘pleasantly refreshing’ section where the music, and the clouds, gather life and a playful spirit once again.

    It has been an absolute pleasure combining the two kings of music – an organ and a symphony orchestra – with an idea that had been simmering away for some time. Huge thanks goes to Nicholas Forbes who has been a superb collaborator and to the Auckland Philharmonia for this opportunity.

    -Ryan Youens

  • Availability