Work

Programme Note

The title is quoted from Nigel Cox’s novel The Cowboy Dog. In the novel, there is a poetic contrast between the constant presence of the landscape, and an elongated sense of time and space, set against the smallness of the concerns of the human characters. The music contains a similar juxtaposition of small detail against a spacious backdrop, and a warping of the listener’s perception of musical time.

The stars like years is dedicated to the New Zealand Clarinet Quartet, and I am especially grateful to the Quartet for their close involvement in the compositional process. There are varying degrees of notational freedom in the score, from very loose rhythmic specification, to sections which are improvised using sets of notated gestural materials. The music derives much of its energy from the tension between spontaneous performance and the written-out structural framework.

The stars like years was commissioned for the New Zealand Clarinet Quartet, with funding from Creative New Zealand.

Commissioned:

Commissioned for the New Zealand Clarinet Quartet, with funding from Creative New Zealand

Difficulty:

Advanced

Dedication:

for the New Zealand Clarinet Quartet

Funders:

• Creative New Zealand

Performance History

	31 Jul 2011	Performed by the New Zealand Clarinet Quartet (including Trio Solaris) at Depot Artspace, Devonport, in Auckland
		Plight of the Dischords
	06 Aug 2011	Performed as part of the ClarinetFest 2011 in Los Angeles, USA
		Plight of the Dischords
	18 Aug 2011	Performed by the New Zealand Clarinet Quartet at the Hunter Council Chamber, Victoria University, in Wellington
		Plight of the Dischords