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.
Wulf
For female reciter, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion
Poem in old English translated by Bill Manhire
Wulf was commissioned by Auckland Contemporary Music Rostrum and first performed by them on 24 April 1977 at the Maidment Theatre in Auckland conducted by William Southgate with Ros Clark (reciter).
About the work
Bill Manhire writes: ‘The old English poem “Wulf and Eadwacer” has always puzzled scholars, to the extent that it was at one time thought to be a riddle. The poem is now generally assumed to be the lament of a woman separated from her lover, Wulf. Who Wulf is, or was, remains obscure.
‘[The text of] Wulf is a fairly free version of the Old English poem. I have not attempted to “solve” any of problems of the original poem, but I hope that Wulf maintains, as it were, the emotion of the original, and that its voice is as suggestive. What is taken from the speaker, for instance, may be a child, born or unborn — ‘the spine of a feather, a cloud in the body”. Or it may be, simply, the possibility of love.’
Score and recording
Borrow the score from SOUNZ.
You may be able to borrow an RNZ recording of the premiere in 1977 from Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision
Te tangi e apakura
One movement work for string orchestra
The first performance of Te tangi e apakura was given by the New Zealand Sinfonia conducted by Stephen Estall at St Johns Smith Square, London on 5 October 1976.
About the work
When I was living in London in the 1970s, there was a couple, Hans and Elsbeth Juda, who were wonderful arts patrons, and they were very kind to me.
This piece, which suggests the lamentation of Apakura, (also a word meaning lamentation) was written after Hans died in 1974. Coincidentally the first performance took place on the first anniversary of his death — the piece is dedicated to his memory.
Score
Buy or borrow the score from the Australian Music Centre.
La cadenza sia corta
For piano
La cadenza sia corta was commissioned by Stephen Pruslin, who gave its first performance in London’s Purcell Room in 1974.
About the work
The title is Beethoven’s direction to the soloist – let the cadenza be short – near the end of his fourth piano concerto.
In La cadenza sia corta, it refers to the short, cadenza-like sections which interrupt the main argument — based on a well-disguised mensural canon, with sections for left hand and right hand alone — and finally fuse with it in the coda.
Scores and recordings
La cadenza sia corta was published by Price Milburn Music in 1977.
La cadenza sia corta — publication
A recording was released on LP in 1979.
Marduk
For mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet, violin/viola, cello, guitar, harpsichord, piano and percussion
Texts by Jacopone da Rodi, CK Norvid and William Blake
Marduk was commissioned by The Fires of London with funding from the Arts Council of Great Britain. It was premiered by them at Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank, London in 1973.
About the work
I devised Marduk initially as a dance-drama exploring the relationship between the divine and humankind, with 4 huge masked figures on stilts — possibly atua — moving slowly in ritualistic patterns while a ‘human’ figure tried to interact with them.
I can’t remember why, but in the end it was performed as a cantata, focusing on the vocal parts of the score, which has texts in Italian by Jacapone da Todi, Polish by CK Norvid, a chant based on the 50 names of Marduk, the god-king of the city of Babylon, and English by William Blake.
Score
The score of this work is not available.
Riddles 2
5 songs for voice and piano
Text by Bill Manhire
The first performance of Riddles 2 was given by Jane Manning (soprano) and Margaret Nielsen (piano) on 31 March 1978 at Victoria University of Wellington.
About the work
The New Zealand poet, Bill Manhire, wrote a series of poems based on the Anglo-Saxon riddle form, specifically for setting to music, and I’ve used 5 of these in this cycle. Although there are suggested answers to the riddles, the poet prefers that the answers come from the imagination of the listener.
Score and recording
A score, donated by Price Milburn Music, is in the Alexander Turnbull Library.
RNZ Concert recorded the premiere performance.
Three songs of Janet Frame
For soprano flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, trumpet, guitar and double bass
Poems by Janet Frame
Three songs of Janet Frame was originally written for performance at a Society for the Promotion of New Music (SPNM) meeting in Durham, but the first performance wasn’t given until October 1972 by a SPNM Ensemble conducted by Henry Ward with Jane Manning (soprano) at the Purcell Room, South Bank, London.
About the work
This work sets 3 poems by Janet Frame from her 1967 collection: Question, The sun speaks at Perihelion and Chant. They are set in a single movement separated by short interludes.
Instrumentation
The scoring includes alto flute and bass clarinet.
Scores and recordings
Buy or borrow the score, and hire the parts from SOUNZ.
Three songs of Janet Frame — SOUNZ
There is an archival recording at SOUNZ from a 1978 performance.