By:

• Eve de Castro-Robinson

Instrumentation:

for piano

Contents:

i. the air sings of life
ii. moon darkened by song
iii. the ancient chants are echoes of death

Availability

• This work has 2 scores, 1 Media on Demand and a recording

External Media on Demand

Programme Note

This work is dedicated to Barry Margan, who commissioned it. We collaborated extensively on its inspirations, sonic, literary and metaphysical and he provided the poetic titles of the first and third movements. The title (and that of the second movement) and the garden was full of voices is from a line of Bill Manhire’s: I stayed a minute/and the garden was full of voices.

The garden and its metaphorical voices, songs, chants and echoes come to life in this ritualistic and meditative work, from the tui calls of the first movement, transcribed directly from my garden, to the more abstracted whistles and nocturnal, dreamlike vocalisations of the second and third. A preoccupation with repeated notes throughout sprang from those of the tui which pervaded Auckland this summer.

Text Note:

Text by Barry Margan (no. i and iii) and Bill Manhire (no. ii)

Commissioned:

Commissioned by Barry Margan as part of the SOUNZtender Project

Dedication:

Dedicated to Barry Margan

Performance History

	30 May 2010	Performed by Gao Ping (piano) at Ilot Theatre, in Wellington
	21 Sep 2011	Performed by Gao Ping (piano) at the Music Theatre, University of Auckand, in Auckland