Work

Programme Note

In the tradition of the Maori, the indigenous people of New Zealand, Hine Raukatauri is the goddess of music and dance. She is embodied in the form of the female case-moth, who hangs in the bushes and sings in a pure, high voice to attract the male moths to her. Her hair is found as a fern, the hanging spleenwort, and her voice is heard in the sound of the putorino, an instrument known only in Aotearoa (the Maori name for New Zealand). The putorino is an instrument that can be played in various ways – as a flute, as a trumpet and as a means of enhancing or altering the human voice.

Hineraukatauri is written for two performers, one playing conventional flutes (piccolo, C and alto flutes), and the other for taonga puoro (instruments). The score features three different putorino, which, like all taonga puoro, (and also the songs and chants) have a small pitch range, rarely exceeding a fourth, which varies from instrument to instrument. Three putorino are used in this piece – one made of albatross bone and two of wood, and both the flute and trumpet voices are used. Other instruments used are a karanga manu (bird-caller), a purerehua (swung bull-roarer) and tumutumu (tapped instruments.)

The flute player’s part is notated, but the music for the taonga puoro is improvised; there are areas when the flute player is encouraged to improvise with the taonga.

Text Note:

Text by Hirini Melbourne

Commissioned:

Commissioned for Richard Nunns and Alexa Still

• Alexa Still
• Richard Nunns

Difficulty:

Advanced

Influences:

• Maori - culture

Dedication:

Dedicated to Richard Nunns and Alexa Still

• Alexa Still
• Richard Nunns

Performance History

	19 Aug 1999	Performed by Alexa Still (flute/piccolo), Richard Nunns (putorino); National Flute Association of America Convention, Atlanta, USA.
		Alexa Still    Richard Nunns
	14 Mar 2002	Performed by Richard Nunns (Taonga Puoro) and Bridget Douglas (Flute) at Ilott Theatre in Wellington
	19 Jun 2007	Performed by Richard Nunns (taonga puoru) and Ingrid Culliford (flutes) at Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber. This concert was a collaboration between The Edge and Chamber Music New Zealand in celebration of Matariki.
		Tuhonohono
	21 Jun 2007	Performed by Richard Nunns (taonga puoru) and Ingrid Culliford (flutes) at Soundings Theatre, Te Papa, Wellington. This concert was a collaboration between The Edge and Chamber Music New Zealand in celebration of Matariki.
		Tuhonohono
	15 Sep 2010	Broadcast of recording from “Sound Barrier” performed by Richard Nunns (taonga puoro) and Alexa Still (flutes) as part of “Kiwi Tracks” on Hawaii Public Radio Excerpts only
		Alexa Still    Richard Nunns
	28 Mar 2012	Performed as part of the 2012 NZ Music for Woodwinds Concert at St. Andrew’s on the Terrace, Wellington
	19 Apr 2012	Performed at the “New Zealand in LA” Festival at REDCAT, Los Angeles, USA.
		Richard Nunns