1999

for orchestra and speaker - music with poems by Sam Hunt

By:

• Anthony Ritchie

Duration:

19' 00"

Instrumentation:

2*2*2* (doubling alto sax. in E flat) 2; 2200; 2 perc.; guitar (amplified); strings. Percussion: tam tam, bass drum, large suspended cymbal, wind chimes,glockenspiel, xylophone, bongos, 2 woodblocks (large and small), drum kit (including suspended cymbal, bass drum, small tom tom

Availability

• This work has a recording

Programme Note

Coming to It was commissioned by the Wellington Sinfonia (now Vector Wellington Orchestra) to collaborate with Sam Hunt. The poems and music speak from the heart about the everyday issues and concerns of ordinary people. There are poems about mothers, fathers, lovers, children and dogs. The poems touch on life and death, and the title incidents between that on the surface seem insignificant but have meaning for those involved. The scene is set in the opening poem, Coming to It. Some of the music is bluesy in character, as in the Plateau Songs, and some is folksy in style, as in A White Gentian, where the guitar and flute play a duet. Occasionally the music specifically describes the text, as in the hammering, migraine-like You House the Moon.

Text Note:

Poems by Sam Hunt

Commissioned:

Commissioned by the Wellington Sinfonia (now Vector Wellington Orchestra)

• Vector Wellington Orchestra

Difficulty:

Advanced

Influences:

• Art and literature - NZ

Performance History

	31 Jul 1999	Performed by Sam Hunt (poet), Wellington Sinfonia (now Vector Wellington Orchestra) at Regent Theatre, Masterton
		Vector Wellington Orchestra
	16 May 2007	Performed by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Two movements performed as part of the Discovery Concert Series
		Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra