Music
Search this list of all my publicly available works using the search box, or the category and year lists. Information about each work includes where to buy, borrow or listen to it.
Girl with a guitar
For mezzo-soprano, cello and piano
A setting of Ruth Dallas’ sequence of the same name
The first performance was given by Panache, in ‘Like Flowers in Rain’, a celebration of the writings of Ruth Dallas at the Globe Theatre in Dunedin as part of the 2000 Otago Festival.
About the work
Girl with a guitar sets 7 short poems taken, with the poet’s kind permission, from Ruth Dallas — Collected Poems (Otago University Press, 2000).
The subject matter, drawing largely on nature images, is reflected in the titles: Autumn Leaves, Flowering Thorn, By the Sea, Boat Moored to a Willow, The Shining Moon, Tree on the Cliffs and On the Plains.
Scores
Buy or borrow the score from SOUNZ.
Symphony: the islands by Jack Speirs
For full orchestra and baritone
Poem by Charles Brasch
This symphony by Jack Speirs was incomplete when he died in 2000. I edited the first 2 movements. It is yet to receive a public performance but the 2 movements were recorded in 2010 by the NZSO conducted by Luke Dollman with David Griffiths (baritone).
Instrumentation
Symphony: the islands is scored for: 3*333; 4331; timpani, percussion, harp and strings.
Percussion: 3 drums, suspended cymbal and side drum
Score and recording
Buy or borrow the score, or borrow a CD of the NZSO performance from SOUNZ.
RNZ Concert has recorded the first 2 movements.
Taurangi
For flute and piano
Taurangi was commissioned by the New Zealand International Festival of the Arts in 2000, during which it received its first performance by Bridget Douglas and Rachel Thompson. It’s dedicated to the memory of John Mansfield Thomson.
About the work
I began writing Taurangi in the shadow of both the East Timor crisis and the death of my good friend and sometime mentor of many years, the musicologist and historian John Mansfield Thomson. These events modified both the original formal ideas and the detail of the piece.
Williams’ A Dictionary of the Māori Language gives 4 meanings for the word ‘taurangi’ — ‘unsettled’, ‘changing or changeable’, ‘incomplete, unsatisfied, unfulfilled’, ‘to grieve for’ and ‘wanderer’.
Scores and recordings
Taurangi was published by Waiteata Music Press in 2001. It is also available in a digital format.
There are 2 recordings of Taurangi on CD
Composer portrait: Gillian Whitehead — CD
You can also hear a recording online.
Commentary
Kirsten Eade focused on this work in her dissertation.
The influence of Māori music traditions in the flute compositions of Gillian Whitehead — publication
Hineraukatauri
Duet for flute and taonga pūoro
Hineraukatauri was written for, and dedicated to, Alexa Still and Richard Nunns. They gave the first performance at the 1999 National Flute Convention in Atlanta, USA.
About the work
In Māori tradition, Hineraukatauri is the goddess of music and dance. She is embodied in the form of the female case-moth, who hangs in the bushes and sings in a pure, high voice to attract the male moths to her. Her hair is found as a fern, the hanging spleenwort, and her voice is heard in the sound of the pūtōrino, an instrument known only in Aotearoa. The pūtōrino is an instrument that can be played in various ways – as a flute, as a trumpet and as a means of enhancing or altering the human voice.
Instrumentation and scoring
The flautist plays piccolo, concert flute and alto flute.
The taonga pūoro include 3 different pūtōrino — one made of albatross bone and 2 of wood, and both the flute and trumpet voices are used. Other instruments used are a karanga manu (bird-caller), a pūrerehua (swung bull-roarer) and tumutumu (tapped instruments).
The flute player’s part is notated, but the music for the taonga pūoro is improvised; there are areas when the flute player is encouraged to improvise with the taonga.
Scores and recordings
Buy or borrow the score from SOUNZ, or buy an MP3 recording.
There are several CD recordings of this work.
Silver Stone Wood Bone — CD and digital album
Hineraukaturi has been recorded twice as part of SOUNZ’s Resound project.
Hineraukatauri was also included on a double CD called Sound Barrier, a major promotional project for New Zealand music.
Commentary
Kirsten Eade focused on this work in her dissertation.
The influence of Māori music traditions in the flute compositions of Gillian Whitehead — publication
E rewa mai, e rā
For solo voice
Text by the composer
E rewa mai, e rā was premiered by Ana Good (soprano) at dawn on Allen’s Beach on the seaward side of the Otago Peninsula on 1 January 2000.
About the work
E rewa mai, e rā is an invocation to the sun, asking it to rise, to give light, so that all living things will thrive and be healthy, so that the rain will fall. It is 2000 years since the coming of Christ. Rise, sun. It was composed on 30 December 1999.
There are 3 versions of this work: one for low voice, one for high voice, and a traditional waiata.
Score and recording
Buy or borrow the score from SOUNZ.
An archival performance on CD was released in 2004.
Outrageous Fortune
Opera in 2 acts for kuia, soprano, 2 mezzo-sopranos, 2 high baritones, 8 smaller roles also doubling as chorus, and 15-piece ensemble
Libretto by Christine Johnston
Outrageous Fortune was commissioned, with funding from Creative New Zealand, by Otago Commemorative Opera Group, Te Atamira Whakamaumahara, to commemorate the sesquicentenary of the founding of the city of Dunedin and the province of Otago in 1848. The first performance was given on 29 September 1998 at the Trust Bank Theatre, Dunedin, conducted by Michael Joel.
About the work
The action is set on the Otago goldfields in 1862, and weaves together fictionalised dramatisations of true stories of Māori, European pakeha and Chinese living on the goldfields. Each act lasts for approximately 65 minutes.
Cast
The cast consists of 16 singers:
- Rona, soprano
- Marama, traditional chant and karanga
- Rani, high baritone
- Hoani, high baritone
- Bess, mezzo
- Maryann, mezzo
- Rosie, soprano
- Lily, mezzo
- Daisy, mezzo
- Charlie/Mick, tenor
- Timmy, tenor
- Tommy, baritone
- Paddy, bass
- Joe, baritone
- 2 Chinese male singers
The first 6 roles are soloists, 4 of which are Māori. The remainder are primarily ensemble singers, although they have substantial solo work at times.
Instrumentation
The opera is scored for flute, oboe, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, piano, percussion, 2 violins, viola, 2 cellos, double bass and taonga pūoro (2 players).
In the Dunedin production, 2 dancers were included, as well as an on-stage fiddler. The role of the fiddler, depending on the distance between the stage and the orchestra pit, can be undertaken by a player from the ensemble.
Scores and recordings
The score, parts and a recording of the first performance are available from SOUNZ.
Review
Suzanne Court and Jenny McLeod wrote articles for Music in New Zealand after the premiere.
Music in New Zealand No. 34 — publication
Award
Outrageous Fortune won the 1999 SOUNZ Contemporary Award. Critic William Dart described the work as ‘a rich score, very much the fruit of Whitehead’s openness.’ He presented her with the 1999 SOUNZ Contemporary Award at the APRA Awards.
