Solo instrument
Ascot Suite
For viola
About the work
Ascot Suite was written in the form of a mini-suite to celebrate the wedding of Charlotte Wilson and Paul Mann. It is part of a 2-movement work, with the other movement, Two Pages, contributed by Lyell Cresswell. The pieces were played by Gillian Ansell at Paul and Charlotte’s wedding breakfast in Christchurch in January 2007.
Score and recording
Buy or borrow the score from SOUNZ.
Beloved…
For violin
Beloved… for solo violin was written as a 40th birthday celebration for Australian violinist David Saffir. It was commissioned by his wife Anna dell’Oso who had written the libretto for my opera Bride of Fortune. The first performance was given in Sydney by David Saffir.
Scores and recordings
Buy or borrow the score from SOUNZ.
Miranda Adams has recorded the work more recently.
Bougainvillea
For flute
The first performance of Bougainvillea was given by Bridget Douglas in the Queenstown Memorial Centre in the Festival Artists Concert during the Whakatipu Music Festival on 16 April 2022.
About the work
The writer, Lloyd Jones, organised an auction to raise funds to build and stock a library in Bougainville, and I volunteered a piece for solo instrument as one of the lots. The flautist Rebecca Steel won the bid, and Bougainvillea, a 1-movement piece, is dedicated to her.
Score and recording
Contact me to get a copy of the score.
Bougainvillea was recorded at the Whakatipu Music Festival.
Bright silence
For violin
Bright silence was the competition piece for the inaugural Michael Hill International Violin Competition (MHIVC) in June 2001, held in Queenstown where it was played by 18 very different violinists. The competition was won by Joseph Lin.
About the work
I wrote Bright Silence while I was composer-in-residence with the Auckland Philharmonia. It is dedicated to Michael Hill.
The piece is an evocation of Central Otago, the high plateau between the Southern Alps and the coastal plains in the South Island of New Zealand. The area is treeless, rocky, sparsely populated, sometimes snow-covered, and the piece reflects the sounds, silences and ghosts of the area.
Scores and recordings
Bright Silence was published by Waiteata Music Press in 2001.
Joseph Lin’s performance was released on CD by Waiteata Music Press.
SOUNZ also has a CD you can borrow with performances by 5 different violinists at the 2001 Michael Hill Competition.
Interview
I was interviewed for an RNZ Concert series about the commissioned works in the Michael Hill competition.
MHIVC Commissions: Gillian Whitehead – Bright Silence — interview
For Timothy
For guitar
I wrote this work when I was living in Northumberland to celebrate the bar mitzvah of Timothy Fox.
About the work
For Timothy is in 4 short movements. The 2 middle movements are based on 2 folksongs — Binnorie, O Binnorie, a Scottish song dating from the 1650s, and a Northumbrian ballad, Buy Brooms, Buzzems. These are preceded by a prelude which is repeated as a postlude.
Score and recording
Contact me if you are interested in seeing the score.
Matthew Marshall has recorded this work.
Fragments from Roxburgh
For viola
About the work
I wrote this short piece to celebrate Elizabeth Kerr’s 60th birthday, and Gillian Ansell played it at a party in April 2008, to mark the occasion.
Score and recording
Buy or borrow the score rom SOUNZ.
Fragments from Roxburgh — SOUNZ
Victoria Jaenecke performed the work in 2019.