NZ Concerti with the NZSO

SOUNZ Virtual Concert

Alex Taylor’s Bassoon Concerto was written for bassoonist (and fellow composer) Ben Hoadley. Alex writes:

“I have been privileged to write for and collaborate with Ben, whose expressivity is, I think, one of the treasures of New Zealand music. I cannot speak for all listeners, but for me the bassoon is one of the most personal of all instruments. It speaks not grandly or with perfect eloquence but with an immediacy and intimacy that is quite special.

The bassoon concerto was an opportunity to create an extended work exploring the melodic line and to push the limits of Ben’s exquisite upper register. The work consists of three slow movements interrupted by two tiny slivers of energetic activity, ruptures in a continuous, static texture.

The work is dedicated to my parents, Vicki and Trish.”

The subtitle for Louise Webster’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra ‘In hollowed bone I hear the seas roar’’ is taken from ‘The Sea’ by New Zealand poet Ruth Dallas. Louise writes:

“Written in three movements, the first movement opens with a rising augmented figure in the solo violin which returns, in ever changing forms, throughout the movement. The second movement is fast, driven and rhythmic, and the final movement, a slow moving and sombre dance for the soloist and strings, with tacet woodwind and brass.”

Guest curator: NZSO