Music
Central landscapes
For chamber orchestra
The first performance of Central landscapes was given by the Central Otago Regional Orchestra (CORO), conducted by Aart Brusse in Cromwell, Central Otago on 12 December 2009.
About the work
I had written a set of pieces for piano to celebrate the birthday of Barbara Henderson while I was living in Alexandra in Central Otago as artist-in-residence for the Henderson Arts Trust, and subsequently arranged them for CORO, which at the time was low in numbers, so the scoring was rather idiosyncratic — an extravagance of flutes, no violas, and so on.
There are 5 movements, based on surroundings of the property where I lived for over a year — Hoar frost with fire siren, Taking a line for a walk, Landscape with quail, Outlines through rising mist, and River talk.
Instrumentation
After the first performance I rearranged the score for a more traditional ensemble, but am happy that parts be reassigned — for example, Aart Brusse rearranged some of the score to suit CORO.
Central landscapes is scored for 2 piccolos, 2 flutes, oboe, 2 clarinets, bassoon, timpani, xylophone and strings.
Scores
Buy or borrow the score, or hire the parts from SOUNZ.