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Work


Harakeke

for flute

Year:  1999   ·  Duration:  8m

Year:  1999
Duration:  8m

Composer:   Philip Brownlee

Films, Audio & Samples

Phil Brownlee: Harakeke - V...

Embedded video
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Sample Score

Sample: First 3 pages

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Borrow/Hire:

To borrow items or hire parts please email SOUNZ directly at info@sounz.org.nz.

About

The flax plant, and a cluster of related images, stand behind this piece. While not directly pictorial, it suggests flickering, swaying movement, and a fascination with dry, rustling sounds. These sounds and movements are not self-sustaining, but set in motion by the agency of air, of wind and, in this case, of human breath. These activating forces suggest echoes of the environments in which the plant grows. On another level of human agency, the place of flax as a raw material for intricately woven objects also intersects with the music. The piece is concerned with the relationship between the flute as an acoustical system and the human gestures by which its sounds are produced. The flute's capacity for timbral modification, for the simultaneous manipulation of multiple aspects of the sound production, would seem to invite a sonically directed musical form. This approach encourages the instrument into unstable behaviours, as different, and sometimes conflicting performance gestures are superimposed, or placed in quick succession. I am deeply grateful to Bridget Douglas for her close collaboration in the making of the piece.


Commissioned note

Commissioned by Bridget Douglas with funding from Creative New Zealand

Bridget Douglas |


Contents note

one movement


Performance history

30 Oct 1999: Performed by Bridget Douglas at the Amalgam at the Phoenix Theatre, Wellington

13 May 2001: Performed by Bridget Douglas (Stroma) at the Former National Museum Building, in Wellington

30 Mar 2003: Performed by Stroma at Auckland School of Music, in Auckland

06 Jun 2008: The Soloists 1

07 Jun 2008: The Soloists 2

08 Jun 2008: The Soloists 3

10 Jun 2008: The Soloists 4

09 Jul 2019: Performed by Jennifer Timmins (flute) at the CANZ Nelson Composers Workshop 2019 opening concert at Nelson Centre of Musical Arts, Nelson

Performed by Bridget Douglas (flute) and Rachel Thomson (piano)

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