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.
Thin ice
For soprano, mezzo-soprano and percussion
Text by Claire Beynon and other poets
Thin Ice was written to celebrate vocal ensemble Halcyon’s 15th Anniversary in 2013. They gave the first performance on 23 October 2013 at the NIDA Parade Theatres in Sydney, Australia.
About the work
Thin Ice is a setting of 2 poems.
The first, ‘Thin Ice’, by Claire Beynon is only 4 lines long, but has a world of meaning and defines creativity exquisitely.
The second, ‘It is all one water’, sees the ocean in various ways, but above all as exhilarating, calm, and linking those separated by distance. It is a collaborative poem, edited by Claire Beynon and created by poets from several countries — Marylinn Kelly (USA), Kay McKenzie-Cook (NZ), Pamela Morrison (NZ) , Elizabeth Hanscome (Australia) , Therese Clear (USA), Scott Odom (USA) and also Claire Beynon.
Instrumentation
The percussion parts are scored for vibraphone and resaresa (1 player). This work could be performed by a women’s choir.
Score
Buy or borrow the score from SOUNZ.
Tōrea
For soprano
Text by the composer
The first performance was given by Ramonda te Maiharoa Taleni on 10 February 2013, to the accompaniment of penguins.
About the work
On 10 February 1913 the Terra Nova, returned from the Antarctic to telegraph news to Britain of the death of Scott and his polar party. Tōrea was written for, and performed at the centenary celebrations of that event in Oamaru.
Tōrea is the red-billed gull, and the conversational sound of the bird represents to Māori a warning that an unfortunate event will befall humans.
Score
This work is unavailable for performance.
Because of the child
For mezzo-soprano
Poem by Fiona Farrell
The first performance of Because of the Child was given by Ana Good in March 2013.
About the work
Because of the child was written for the launch of Sir Alan Mark’s risk assessment project, which invites the parties of government to join forces and consider the risks facing Aotearoa New Zealand, particularly from climate change.
Score
You can borrow or buy the score from SOUNZ.
No stars, not even clouds
For string quartet
No stars, not even clouds was commissioned by Chamber Music New Zealand for the Enso Quartet. The work is dedicated to them and was premiered by them in Christchurch on 23 October 2012.
About the work
I wrote No stars, not even clouds at a time when several friends of mine were seriously ill, and at the forefront of my mind. Juanita Ketchel, who lived in Dunedin, was both diagnosed with cancer and died within the short time-frame in which the piece was written. She had a profound interest in the arts, and was frequently seen at concerts. The title No stars, not even clouds came from a story she wrote some years ago. The piece is written to her memory.
The piece draws on traditional quartet forms, opening with a phrase which I realised only retrospectively echoes the same shape and rhythm that pervades Tōrua, written for violin and piano in the immediate aftermath of the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch. Both pieces draw on the Otago accent of the korimako or bellbirds that seem to sing vociferously every time I sit down to write.
No stars, not even clouds is written in a single movement, but has elements of a tripartite structure within it.
Score and recording
Buy or borrow the score from SOUNZ.
No stars, not even clouds — SOUNZ
A recording, released by Rattle CDs, can be bought from SOUNZ and all good record stores.
RNZ Concert recorded a performance by the Enso quartet.
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.
Cicadas
For soprano and harp
Text by Rachel Bush
Cicadas was commissioned by harpist Helen Webby, with funding from Creative New Zealand. She, together with Pepe Becker (soprano) gave the first performances.
About the work
Cicadas was written for Helen Webby’s CD Pluck, for which she commissioned new harp works by 9 New Zealand composers.
The text is taken from the poem of the same name by Rachel Bush, with her kind permission, and was published in her collection Nice Pretty Things, published by Victoria University Press in 2011.
Score and recording
Buy or borrow the score and recording from SOUNZ.