‘Almost an Island’, a phrase which refers to the Otago peninsula, is the title I’ve given to a short set of haiku written by peninsula poets, which I set for voice and piano as a wedding present for my then neighbours, Breffni and Dave.
Rain blows on windows plastered with new leaves it’s spring again (Eleanor Koch) Golden pendant blossoms bright against blue spring sky beckon tuis (Eleanor Koch) Gleaming white across Arapatiki three spoonbills fly towards us (Gillian Whitehead) Aramoana pathway to the wide ocean memories remain (Kay Sinclair) Fiery rata circled by glitter almost an island (Kay Sinclair) Track winds past pine trees tangled vines scratching bare skin sharp smell of gorse flowers (Fran Bolgar) Low pressure warning on the macrocarpa thirty herons swaying (Gillian Whitehead) Kereru wheeling soaring and plummeting bounce now on tree-top (Joyce Whitehead)
Text Note:
The poets are Eleanor Koch (1,2), the composer (3,7), Kay Sinclair (4,5), Francesca Bolgar (6) and Joyce Whitehead (8)
Commissioned:
Written as a wedding present for my then neighbours, Breffni and Dave
Performed by Ana Good (soprano) and Joyce Whitehead (piano) at the Mozart Fellows Reunion Concert at Marima Hall, University of Otago, Dunedin, in 2007
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