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Emma Carlé  

6 fives are 30

Duration: 01' 00" Year: 1999
microscore for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, double bass, percussion

Bryony Jagger  

A New Day Dawns

Duration: 10' 00" Year: 1999
for orchestra

Denise Hulford  

A prayer for the twenty-first century woman

Duration: 15' 00" Year: 1999
for bass clarinet, bassoon and 2 violoncellos

David Hamilton  

A Shakespeare Garland

Duration: 17' 00" Year: 1999
for SAATB choir, guitar and piano

  • Programme Note

    Every now and then the deputy musical directors of Auckland Choral Society are invited to jointly conduct a concert. In 1999 this took the form of a ’subscriber’s bonus’ concert, containing works requiring minimal accompaniment forces. Early discussions lead us in the direction of a Shakespeare-themed concert. In addition to conducting some American settings of Shakespeare, I decided to write a new cycle using Shakespearean texts. Given the nature of the intended concert, I wanted to write a work which was immediately approachable and contained an element of fun. My original intention was to compose a cycle based on references to flowers in Shakespeare’s writings, as I had a copy of a book which detailed them. However, it soon became apparent that many references were part of texts which were not suitable for a musical setting : some were conversational and others merely a passing mention of a flower. I broadened my scope a little and fashioned a sequence of seven texts which all refer in some way to things botanical and/or seasonal. The first text is from ‘As You Like It’ and sets the well-known ‘it was a lover and his lass’ in a jazzy idiom. A complete contrast of mood is presented in ‘Come, buy’ from ‘The Winter’s Tale’, where the words detail a variety of items which might be purchased to charm a lady. The third piece is a short setting of ‘Hark, hark the lark’ from ‘Cymberline’. Unlike Schubert’s well-known setting, this lark is rather boisterous and rowdy! The music owes more than a little to mid-twentieth century film music, perhaps a film involving a frenetic chase sequence! The centerpiece of the cycle is a setting of Shakespeare’s best-known sonnet ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (sonnet 18). Here the women’s voices are heard on their own, with the 2nd altos given a rare chance to take the limelight. The fifth piece is a reflective setting of ‘I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows’ from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Initially unison voices present the melody, breaking into harmony only for the second half of the song. Throwing caution to the wind, the sixth piece is a madcap, cartoonish setting of ‘When daisies pied’ from ’Love’s Labour’s Lost’. Where better to end the cycle than with the ‘flower-power’ era of the 1960’s and a swinging version of ‘Under the greenwood tree’ from ‘As You Like It’, using just about every harmonic cliche of the music of that time. ‘A Shakespeare Garland’ was written for, and is dedicated to, Auckland Choral Society who gave the first performance.

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David Hamilton  

A Star is Dancing on the Snow

Duration: 02' 00" Year: 1999
for SAB (bass optional) and piano with optional percussion

David Griffiths  

A View of Rangitoto

 Year: 1999
for SSAA choir and piano

Gareth Farr  

Acid Euphoria

Duration: 06' 00" Year: 1999
for gamelan and three percussionists

Craig Utting  

Adrift

Duration: 15' 00" Year: 1999
for four cellos

Maurice Faulknor  

Ae Fond Kiss

 Year: 1999
for SATB choir

Jack Body  

Aeolian Harp

Duration: 04' 00" Year: 1999
for solo viola

  • Programme Note

    This piece was inspired by the beguiling sounds of the aeolian harp to which I was first introduced by Chris Cree Brown. Said to have been first ‘discovered’ by the ancient Greeks, aeolian harps are intended to be played not by human hands, but by the wind. The strings vibrates through a range of harmonics creating an eerie effect difficult to describe.


    Jack Body

  • Availability