Music

Pākuru

Voice and instrumental ensemble

For mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet, viola, cello, piano and percussion

A setting of Hone Tūwhare’s poem, ‘Thine own hands have fashioned’

The first performance of Pākuru was given by Pierrot Players conducted by Peter Maxwell Davies in 1968 in Berlin’s Akademie der Künste in a programme presenting young British composers.

About the work

Hone Tūwhare’s text comes from his first poetry collection No ordinary sun (1967).

Pākuru was first aired at the prestigious Dartington Summer School of Music, but the first public performance was in Berlin with a very poor audience as there was a strike in Berlin that day. It was the first piece I wrote when I arrived in London.

The title Pākuru means a chant accompanied by tapped sticks, or a taonga pūoro consisting of wooden sticks tapped together: there is a substantial role for percussion in the piece.

Score

Contact me if you would like to see the score.

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