Piano
Tūmanako — journey through an unknown landscape
Five pieces for piano
Tūmanako was written as part of SOUNZtender, a silent auction which raised money for SOUNZ. Diedre Irons gave the first performance at The New Zealand International Piano Festival on 8 April 2011.
About the work
Helen Kominik won the auction for my piece which she dedicated to her grandchildren, Kate and Tom Fraser. Tūmanako, which means ‘hope’ in Māori and was the name of the house in which Helen grew up. I wrote the piece shortly after I’d been travelling by car through Yunnan, China and made a link between the journey through a landscape where you know nothing beyond the immediate surroundings, and moving through the landscape of the score.
Score and recordings
Buy or borrow the score from SOUNZ
A CD including Tūmanako is available from all good record stores, or borrow it from SOUNZ. It’s also available as an MP3.
Tūmanako has been recorded twice as part of SOUNZ’s Resound project.
RNZ Concert’s recording from 2018 is available online.
Voices of Tane
7 short pieces for piano
About the work
Voices of Tane was written for my godson, Kit Boyes. It was the first piece I wrote on my return to New Zealand after 9 years in Europe and was written with intermediate performers in mind.
Tane is the Māori god of forests, and the trees, plants, birds and other creatures who live there.
There is little to say about the pieces themselves except that the last repeats the first, the third has to do with birdsong, the fifth with wind, and the sixth consists of 9 ideas that the pianist plays in whatever sequence she or he wishes.
Ken Young recorded a short talk about this work for RNZ Concert.
Scores and recordings
Voices of Tane was published by Price Milburn Music in 1977.
RNZ Concert recorded Voices of Tane in 1986.