Pania

About

In writing this piece I was influenced by the concept of differing perspectives of time and also by Berio's Sequenzas. I have tried to incorporate his idea of creating a polyphonic type of listening through the use of contrasting motifs, textures and tempi. The title for the work came during the writing process and led the piece to be slightly programmatic. According to Maori legend, Pania is a sea-goddess who ventured onto land only at night. There she met a man who later became her husband and together the couple bore a son. Wishing his family wouldn't return to the sea with every sunrise, the husband cast a spell on the pair. The spell however, had the opposite effect. Pania and the boy returned to the sea forever where she became a reef, lying with her arms outstretched towards her husband.