Scottish elements have been purposefully incorporated into this work and are a feature. These include aural references to bagpipes – the opening linking into...

Taken from the Spanish word 'Alborada', Aubade (dawn) references Ravel's great work Alborada del Gracioso. Opening with a slow lyrical section, the mood ...

This work for SATB choir accompanied by two pianos was first performed by the Auckland Dorian Choir in 1987, followed by performances in Hamilton and Wanganu...

This concerto takes as its musical material an analysis of some fragments from disco songs, the most extreme colours of which are then isolated, extrapolated...

The Maori Merchant of Venice, the Maori film version of the English bard William Shakespeare’s classic play The Merchant of Venice, brings an exotic loo...

This composition was written in 2011 for the Southern Sinfonia. It is a modern interpretation of the sense of medieval and renaissance dance, distorted throu...

The word ‘claro’ (meaning ‘light’ or ‘clear’) describes a visual, aural and, perhaps, psychological state of transparency, lightness and clarity. It is depic...

Gallipoli was composed in memory of the World War I battle that took place between Turkey and Anzacs, symbolizing as a whole, the mutual good relations of ...

This is one of my favourite and most performed pieces, although the first performance was a disaster, and I will say nothing of it or the performers. The fir...

Christmas Carol – a bit 'Rutteresque' in style but with some unexpected twists and jazzy harmonies at times.

This piece was first performed in December 20...

In his 1974 collection 'The lives of a Cell', Lewis Thomas wrote a memorable essay devoted to the spectrum of sound made by all living creatures. He believes...

A re-orchestration of the composer's previous work Septitious.

The Violin Sonatina and the later orchestrated version, the Concertino, was composed over many years from 1962 to 1984. The piece is a favorite of the co...

The Rock Concerto began life in 1986 as a (first) Rock Sonata for piano, a work with strong classical roots and in places of Lisztian difficulty, commiss...

Alfred Hill’s string quartet ‘Lento sostenuto, Menuett, Andante, and Scherzo’ pre-dates his String Quartet No.1. Written in 1890 while a student at Leipzig C...

At my farewell from the conservatorium (June 2003) I spoke to Kari Lassauer, Philip's first trombone teacher in CH and he said if I were to write something f...

"Tradition, as I first came to feel it (as a child of 9 years), was given to me by grand father when he was teaching me how to play the clarinet. To me this ...

Directed by Anapela Polata'ivao
Music composed and orchestrated by Poulima Salima
Black Grace dancers: __Shane Tofaono, Ken Date, Keana Nga...

Lyric Sketches had its genesis in a suggestion from the composer's son, Michael, to arrange my Songs of Mystic Jade for his quartet, Locana.

This cyc...

When I was asked to conduct Pakuranga Choral Society in their first concert for 2005, the question of suitable repertoire was discussed with the choir manage...

This quartet was dedicated to Henri Verbrugghen and the members of this string quartet, with specific dedications of the second movement to the violinist, Da...

humpty dumpty - a modern ecstasy

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
In the history of falls, this fall was appalling,
...

A stirring portrayal of the state of Aotearoa's healthcare.

At a time when matters of life and death consume the headlines and our thoughts, Auckland Thea...

Rough, unpredictable weather and a lengthy, often treacherous coastline meant many ship were wrecked in the early days of New Zealand’s history. Fortunately,...

Rough, unpredictable weather and a lengthy, often treacherous coastline meant many ship were wrecked in the early days of New Zealand’s history. Fortunately,...

I started this piece by deliberately contravening the orchestrational intuitions I had for this peculiar ensemble. Instead of allowing the instruments’ poten...

Christmas Carol – a bit ‘Rutteresque’ in style but with some unexpected twists and jazzy harmonies at times.

This piece was first performed in December 20...

Discount available for bulk orders. Please contact info@sounz.org.nz.

Christmas Carol – a bit 'Rutteresque' in style but with some unexpected twists a...

Discount available for bulk orders. Please contact info@sounz.org.nz.

Christmas Carol – a bit ‘Rutteresque’ in style but with some unexpected twists a...

Christmas Carol – a bit ‘Rutteresque’ in style but with some unexpected twists and jazzy harmonies at times.

This piece was first performed in December 20...

Fanfare for Orchestra was commissioned as part of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's Composer-in-Residence programme to open a special concert to commem...

Based on themes by Henry Purcell and Princess Te Rangi Pai, and incorporating elements of The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Op. 34, written by Benja...

An orchestral work which grew out of an earlier version for chamber orchestra, which in turn evolved from part of the wind octet Kaleidoscope. Overall it i...

The Ashburton Area Schools Music Orchestral Course was an annual event involving young student musicians of primary and intermediate school age. In 1995, the...

Zoetrope-Wheel of Life is a new orchestral composition written for the Manawatu Sinfonia and made possible with a grant from the Earle creativity trust in ...

The contrabassoon, undoubtedly one of the most strange and wonderful of all modern-day orchestral instruments, is thrust into the limelight in this work—an o...

The opening piece of an orchestral concert has traditionally been the ubiquitous "overture"; whether it be a concert piece of short duration, or a real overt...

'Organ Overture' was commissioned by the Southern Sinfonia to celebrate the orchestra's 40th anniversary. It was written and funded as part of the composer's...

The two main themes of Youth of Auckland were originally written by the composer as sound tracks for television commercials, and reworked and developed for...

This symphony was created to enable blind and vision-impaired musicians to perform with an orchestra. It is written in such a way that it can be memorised by...

This is atmospheric and layered music.

Compositionally the whole work is strictly structured on a 12-note Tone Row. The Tone Row used throughout is made ...

This short orchestral ‘fanfare’ was inspired by the sight of an albatross gliding in strong currents on a summer’s evening at Tairoa Head. The music also ref...

One of the best pieces of theatre I ever saw was a West Indian street juggler on Sydney's harbourfront.

Balls, knives, truncheons, flaming torches - you ...

Download a perusal score here

In January 2009 I was in T...

This work arose as a creative response to the early phases of the lockdown in Great Britain occasioned by the planet-wide pandemic of COVID-19. I was huntin...

The score of Birthday Disguises is inscribed, “a patchwork diversion for the Lindsay String Orchestra’s 20th anniversary, stitched together in appreciation...

These pieces were originally piano duets, written with one easy part for my wife to play, and presented to her on various anniversary occasions in the 1960s...

I had the most fantastic opportunity: a full-length orchestral concert with me as the comedic lead. I had plenty of musical comedy material, but I lacked a s...