Choral music
Ngā haerenga
For 2 sopranos, 2 altos, percussion and male narrator
Various texts including Bill Manhire, Ernest Shackleton and the composer
Ngā haerenga was commissioned with financial assistance from the Performing Arts Board of the Australia Council by Voiceworks. They gave the first performance in 2000 conducted by Francis Greep with Daryl Pratt (percussion) and John Pringle (narrator).
About the work
Ngā haerenga, which translates from Māori as ‘journeys’ tells stories about mythical, legendary, allegorical and actual journeys.
Part I
The piece opens with a soundscape evoking central Australia. Across the sand and rock by day and night, through heat and cold, Kuniya, the Woma python, is travelling to Uluru where she will lay her eggs. Her timeless journey spans the piece.
Part II
The second section needs some background. By perhaps 6,000 BC, because of huge glacial melting in Baffin Bay and elsewhere, the sea level had risen 120 metres over roughly 4 millennia — this is reflected in the descriptions of flooding in the creation myths of most civilisations. A tribe then living on coastal lowlands, now underwater on the Sunda shelf in Indonesia, took their language, knowledge, traditions and artifacts with them as they and their descendants moved continually to higher ground to escape the rising water, and over time spread through Asia, Europe the Pacific and America, where traces of their culture survive.
In the second section this story is briefly told and a prophetess warns her followers of the impending inundation as the water levels rise. After a continuation of the story of Kuniya, we hear in Māori the song of Kupe the legendary discoverer of Aotearoa New Zealand. In mid-ocean, Kupe, at the prow of the waka, or canoe, asks for a calm and speedy journey over the waters, travelling with dolphins and flying fish along the paths of the great whales, to the south where the sun, trapped in the net of Maui, stands still.
Parts III to V
Where the sun really seems to stand still is in Antarctica in midsummer. It is December 1914, and Ernest Shackleton is setting off in the Endeavour on his epic journey to cross the icecap. Only the first part of this 3-year series of epic journeys is told here.
The entire journey, which taxed the resources of the expedition to the utmost limit, involved being trapped in ice for 10 months until the ship was crushed by the pressure of the ice. This resulted in a trek across the ice to open water, 2 dangerous journeys in southern seas in open boats and a final march over uncharted highlands and glaciers to reach help. Thanks to Shackleton’s superb leadership, every member of the crew survived.
Over soundscapes evoking the Antarctic, the narrator tells Shackleton’s story in short excerpts from his writings. The singers elaborate the story with excerpts from Shackleton’s diary, with 2 wonderfully evocative poems by Bill Manhire, and with a quotation from Job which Shackleton tore out of his bible and kept with him throughout his ordeal.
Part VI
After the Endeavour is crushed in ice, the piece ends with an allegorical journey of the soul. In this 9th century Latin poem, a swan is flying over the ocean, lamenting his unfortunate state, his exile from dry land, his failing strength, his inability to rise above the level of the water. He calls on Orion to light his way, to sweep away the clouds. As dawn comes, his strength returns and he rejoices and praises God as he reaches dry land.
About the text
Apart from the 9th century allegory and the 2 Manhire poems, I devised the text. The background information for the second section comes from Eden in the East by Stephen Oppenheimer and Ernest Shackleton’s South was the main source for his story. The Bill Manhire poems come from what to call your child, published by Random House New Zealand in 1999.
Scoring
This work is scored for solo singers, but could be sung by a choir.
Score and recording
Contact me if you are interested in seeing the score.
Listen and watch online to videos from a 2013 performance.
Passio
Chamber orchestra or large ensemble, Choral music, Collaborations
For voices, brass, woodwind and percussion
The first performance of Passio was given by The Tudor Consort conducted by Alistair Carey and the Royal Air Force Band conducted by Owen Clarke, on 2 June 2006 at the Great Hall, Massey University, Wellington. The soloists were Alistair Carey (Evangelist), Brian Hesketh (Christus) and Madeleine Pierard (Spiritus).
About the work
Conceived by composer and close friend Jack Body, Passio is a re-contextualised version of Richard Davy’s (c.1465-1538) Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christe.
Jack invited composers associated with the New Zealand School of Music — David Farquhar, Ross Harris, Michael Norris, Lissa Meridan and me — to work on a movement of the work each. My contribution was the Gethsemane narrative.
The premiere was memorable as the audience was encouraged to walk around the performance area during the performance which took place in the large and resonant Great Hall at Massey University. The work was reconstructed for the 2017 Auckland Festival.
Recordings
There is an audio recording of the first performance, and a video of a performance at the Auckland Festival in 2017.
Reviews
William Dart and Alex Taylor wrote reviews of the Auckland Festival performance.
Stroll through Passio — New Zealand Herald
What would Jack do? A review of Passio — The Pantograph Punch
Interview
Carla van Zon, Director of the Auckland Festival, and I were interviewed when the Auckland Festival performance was in preparation.
Qui natus est
Carol for SATB choir
Latin and English text
Qui natus est was first performed by the University of Auckland Choir.
About the work
The mediaeval text of this carol is macaronic, mixing Latin and English phrases, and was written in Adelaide in 1966.
The Latin text translates as, ‘He who was born of a virgin, O Lord, grant me thy salvation.’
Score and recording
Buy or borrow the score from SOUNZ.
The University of Auckland Festival Choir released this work on CD.
Taiohi Taiao
For SATB choir, 2 soloists and taonga pūoro
Text by Aroha Yates-Smith
Taiohi Taiao was commissioned by Tower Voices New Zealand with funding from Creative New Zealand. They gave the first performance at the Otago Festival in October 2004 conducted by Karen Grylls.
About the work
Taiohi Taiao sets a waiata written in 2004 by Aroha Yates-Smith.
koropupu ake ana
nga wai o te matapuna
he wai matao
he wai reka ki te korokoro
he wai tohi i te punua
waiora waimarama wairua
te puna o te tangata
te putanga mai o nga reanga
hei poipoi I nga taonga tuku iho
pukenga wananga
manaaki tangata
tiaki whenua
tamaiti taiohi taiao
Bubbling upwards rise
the waters from the spring
cool, refreshing water
fluid delighting the taste buds
blessing the young
water — life-giving, clear — the spirit.
The springs of humankind
producing generations
who will nurture their inheritance
learning from the storehouse of knowledge
hospitality/generosity to all
guardianship of the land
Child Youth Universe.
The waiata acknowledges the vital role natural springs have in providing clean, delicious drinking water, which nourishes humankind and the wider environment. The water is also used in traditional and contemporary forms of blessing our young. The line ‘waiora waimarama wairua’ refers to the life-giving force of the water, its clarity and purity, and the spiritual essence which pervades it and every life force.
The second verse focuses on the importance of generation after generation preserving all that is important. ‘Te puna o te tangata’ refers to the fountain of humankind, that is, the womb which produces the future progeny of our people. From woman is born humankind — generations of people who continue to nurture and maintain those treasures passed down through eons of time: knowledge and wisdom, the importance of caring for others and looking after the environment.
The final line, ‘tamaiti taiohi taiao’ creates a link between the (tiny) infant, youth and the wider environment, and ultimately the universe.
Instrumentation
The piece is devised so that it can be performed with or without the taonga pūoro — kōauau ponga ihu and kōauau koiwi kuri. In the event that it is sung with the taonga, there can be considerable flexibility to allow the weaving of soloist and kōauau. The kōauau ponga ihu, a nose flute, used in the first verse is a very quiet instrument, while the koauau koiwi kuri has a much stronger voice.
Accidentals refer throughout the bar. Sometimes cautionary accidentals are used. In the sustained pedal sections, staggered breathing should be used to ensure continuity of sound.
Scores and recording
Buy or borrow the score, hire the parts or buy the CD from SOUNZ.
Tower Voices New Zealand have recorded this work.
The virgin and the nightingale
5 songs for 6 solo voices and flute
The texts are translated from Latin by Fleur Adcock
The virgin and the nightingale was commissioned with funding from the Music Board of the Australia Council. The first complete performance was given in 1992 by The Song Company.
About the work
The songs are settings of 5 mediaeval poems about birds:
- Courtship
- The Swan
- The Thrush
- The Roasted Swan, and
- The Anti-nightingale song.
Scoring
Scored for soprano, mezzo, alto, tenor, baritone and bass. Some of the songs have been sung by choirs. Flute is used in 3 songs.
Score and recording
Buy or borrow the score from SOUNZ.
The virgin and the nightingale — SOUNZ
This work has been released on CD by the Song Company.
Thin ice
For soprano, mezzo-soprano and percussion
Text by Claire Beynon and other poets
Thin Ice was written to celebrate vocal ensemble Halcyon’s 15th Anniversary in 2013. They gave the first performance on 23 October 2013 at the NIDA Parade Theatres in Sydney, Australia.
About the work
Thin Ice is a setting of 2 poems.
The first, ‘Thin Ice’, by Claire Beynon is only 4 lines long, but has a world of meaning and defines creativity exquisitely.
The second, ‘It is all one water’, sees the ocean in various ways, but above all as exhilarating, calm, and linking those separated by distance. It is a collaborative poem, edited by Claire Beynon and created by poets from several countries — Marylinn Kelly (USA), Kay McKenzie-Cook (NZ), Pamela Morrison (NZ) , Elizabeth Hanscome (Australia) , Therese Clear (USA), Scott Odom (USA) and also Claire Beynon.
Instrumentation
The percussion parts are scored for vibraphone and resaresa (1 player). This work could be performed by a women’s choir.
Score
Buy or borrow the score from SOUNZ.