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Wild Music There has long been an association between symphonic music and the world of nature. The composers of many of our best-loved works have been inspired to respond creatively to their natural surroundings. Throughout much of the planet, however, wilderness areas that have been so inspiring to artists are under threat from the effects of human overuse. ‘Wild Music’ is a compilation of orchestral music, each piece of which has been chosen for its programmatic connection to a specific conservation topic. It pays homage to the natural beauty of New Zealand and celebrates the ongoing work being done to ensure that it exists for future generations to enjoy. This has been a true collaboration, as the relevant conservation issues and the selection of music have been determined by members of both Concert FM and the Department of Conservation.

Concert FM and the Department of Conservation would like to thank the following people for their help: Shane Cotton, Al Morrison, Lloyd Morrison, Amelia Nurse, Nicola Patrick, Luke Proctor, Hamish McKeich and the NZSO, Anne McLean, Miles Rogers, Peter Walls, Julie Warren, Carla Wilson.

Shane Cotton (b.1964), Eye, 2003, oil on canvas, 1900 x 3000 mm.

Courtesy of Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland. Reproduced by permission of the artist.

Christopher Marshall (b.1956) Hikurangi Sunrise Christopher Marshall said of composing this work, “When I wrote Hikurangi Sunrise I had never actually visited Hikurangi. However the image of that mountain, and its title as ‘the first to see the sun’, captured my imagination.

I envisioned soaring with the seagulls, and gazing eastward over the Pacific with the waves catching the first rays as they intensified and coalesced across the sky, Hikurangi watching over this timeless scene and the changing patterns of life at its feet.” The work awakes with a quietly insistent ostinato on violins and marimba, introducing a majestic melody which builds through a textured medley of bird calls. As the birds spread wings and soar, the music takes listeners too, to ride the thermals above the ocean and land.

The great love for the New Zealand landscape is something shared by most New Zealanders, Maori and Pakeha alike. Maori have a deep spiritual and cultural relationship with the land, in which most things are imbued with mana (spiritual essence). Mana is within the people themselves, land, nature, and also human-made objects, connecting all things in the environment, and ultimately leading to the concept of Kaitiakitanga, or guardianship of the environment.

The concepts of connectedness and responsibility, as well as a strong sense of stewardship are also strong in Pakeha culture. Although there is a great diversity of opinion and perspective related to the land and its management, there also exists a unifying goal of making the land and its environments available as a resource for future generations.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) ‘Puss in Boots and the White Cat’ from The Sleeping Beauty In Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Sleeping Beauty, Puss in Boots and the White Cat appear as honoured guests at a royal wedding. The composer’s clever use of woodwinds to mimic the meowing of the two cats and his evocation of their sudden and stealthy movements in the strings aptly depict the character of the creatures.

Cats were brought to New Zealand with the first European ships as pest control for rats onboard. Their introduction was to an environment almost completely unaccustomed to predators, and it brought species such as the kakapo to the brink of extinction. About 820,000 cats exist in New Zealand, and roughly half of all households have one. The popularity of cats as pets makes it easy to forget that they are instinctive hunters. The domestic moggie can roam nearly a kilometre from home each night

to hunt and can, over time, visit a 28hectare area around the neighbourhood.

Feral cats can cover twice that area.

New Zealand leads the world in developing technology and programmes to eradicate feral pests, and the many offshore and mainland island reserves are testimony to the success of these initiatives. At home, the impact of pet cats can be minimised by keeping them in at night, de-sexing them, and by placing bird feeders and baths out in the open.

Antonín Dvor˘ák (1841-1904) The Wood Dove One of a group of four symphonic poems, The Wood Dove is a tale based on a Czech legend of infatuation and murder in a rural village. It includes the stylised song of a bird to signify the victim’s posthumous reproach to the murderer. A wood dove watches from a tree growing over the grave, its presence evoked by an eerie combination of rustling harp and strings, and the bird’s call by oscillating figures played by flutes and a plaintive oboe.

The New Zealand wood pigeon, or kereru, is an icon of the New Zealand bush, and the drumming of its wings was once a common sound in our lowland forests. This sound is becoming increasingly rare. Native forests once covered 85% of the country, and over the course of just a few decades this figure has been reduced to just 23%. Other factors contributing to the decline of the kereru include predation by rats,

stoats and possums, competition from introduced bird species and illegal hunting. The decline of the kereru also impacts on trees that depend on it as a seed disperser. Since the extinction of the moa, the kereru is the only bird large enough to swallow the berries of trees such as the karaka and tawa, and its extinction would ultimately lead to widespread forest decline.

Fortunately for the kereru and other forest bird species, the fencing of native bush to exclude stock and other browsers and allow revegetation, and the control of predators, are becoming common practices. Even just through the control of rats and possums, kereru populations can double in two years, and there is reason to be optimistic about the survival of this species.

Edward Elgar (1857-1934) Elegy for Strings This short, hauntingly beautiful elegy may have been written to honour the composer’s friend and publisher, August Jaeger, who died tragically young. The listener is drawn into the harmonic dynamics of the work, as the melody is not always in the foreground and no single instrument is singled out. The result is a series of shifting sonorities which continues to a subdued ending.

Elgar’s Elegy is fitting as a song of lamentation for the many New Zealand species, particularly birds, which have become extinct since the arrival of humans. Because of the country’s remoteness, New Zealand’s birds evolved in isolation, free from the influence of any mammals except bats. There was an abundance of many unique birds, and the dense forests would have resounded with the cacophony of their different calls. Through land clearing, the introduction of predators, and hunting,

humans have been responsible for the extinction of almost 40 bird species.

These include 11 species of moa (ranging from turkey-sized birds to the aptlynamed giant moa), a pelican, several flightless geese and ducks, a swan, a crow, the world’s largest eagle and the huia (which became extinct as recently as the 1920s). This is a sizeable proportion of the bird species that existed before the arrival of humans.

Awareness of the finality of extinction drives much of the effort behind protecting the magnificent species that remain. The preservation of the famous Black Robin of the Chatham Islands is a notable success story—the bird was saved from the brink of extinction, its entire current population being the descendants of just a single female. Accomplishments such as this allow us to believe that extinctions are not the inevitable result of humans’ occupation of the Earth.

Shane Cotton (b.1964), The Carrier, 2003, oil on canvas, 1800 x 2400 mm. Courtesy of Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland. Reproduced by permission of the artist.

Hamish MacCunn (1868-1916) The Land of the Mountain and the Flood The rugged landscape of Hamish MacCunn’s native Scotland is remembered affectionately in his tone poem The Land of the Mountain and the Flood. The evocation of his love for his homeland begins with the ‘Scotch snaps’ of the opening and continues to the bracing hill-walking dotted rhythm of the second subject, accelerating to a gallop through the glens.

New Zealand too is a land of mountains and floods, and they figure strongly in both Maori and Pakeha cultures.

However, the tussocks and tarns of the Alpine regions are some of the country’s most delicate and endangered habitats, harbouring animals such as the kea (the world’s only alpine parrot), the rock wren and alpine weta. The plants—the basis of the alpine food web—are also special, and more than 90% of New Zealand’s alpine plant species occur nowhere else.

Introduced grazing mammals and the more recent impact of activities such as snow grooming and skiing have damaged large portions of these unique habitats.

In many areas, ongoing programmes of culling introduced pests, weeding and the reintroduction of species ranging from kiwi to invertebrates, are helping to return these areas to their natural state.

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) ‘Aquarium’ from The Carnival of the Animals If any musical work evokes the aquatic world, it is surely this wonderful miniature. It opens with rippling runs and chords like sunlight shimmering on waves. The sinuous melody of the muted violins and flute describe the mesmerising movement of gliding fish, while the subtle variations in the piece all help to paint a magical picture of bustling underwater life.

Keeping fish is a major international avocation, and hundreds of species of fish and plants are imported into New Zealand from all over the globe. More than 200 of these fish and plants have been introduced into our waterways, and many have caused considerable damage.

Aquatic weeds, usually originating from fish tanks, are spread from place to place on the bottoms of boats and gumboots or during floods, and can choke rivers, clog culverts and deplete the water of oxygen. Pest fish such as goldfish, koi carp and catfish stir up the water while searching for food from the bottom, and eat the eggs and young of native fish—those same fish we harvest as whitebait. Advances in eradication technology in New Zealand and overseas mean waterways are being cleared of these pests.

Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) ‘Ritual Fire Dance’ from El Amor Brujo The ‘Ritual Fire Dance’ is from the ballet score El Amor Brujo (Love, the Magician), the first of Falla’s two ballets. The music is influenced by the folk songs of Andalusia. Carmela, a beautiful gypsy, is haunted by the ghost of her dead lover, which threatens her hopes of finding happiness with her new love, Carmelo.

She and the other gypsies make a ‘magic circle’ and on the stroke of midnight they begin the ritual fire dance to drive the spirit away. Tension is built by the viola’s flickering figure and by quickly changing dynamics. In the first iteration of the main theme, the oboe’s snaking line suggests flames caressing wood. As the fire takes hold, a wave of heat radiates from the violins’ declaration, fortissimo, of the same theme.

Fire has been used from the time that people first set foot in New Zealand as a tool for gathering food and clearing land.

A millennium of burning has radically altered the New Zealand landscape, changing extensive forests of Antarctic beech and other hardwoods to fields of tussock and scrub. The first impact of fire in European times was probably to convert this mosaic of shrub thickets and scrubby tussock, over time, into something resembling the grasslands of Europe. Today, fire remains a serious environmental problem in many areas.

Every year in New Zealand, around 2000 wildfires burn through some 7000 hectares of rural land. Changing land-use practices, reduction in grazing pressure and the recent cessation of burning in many localities is beginning to allow the re-emergence of native plants.

Douglas Lilburn (1915-2001) A Song of Islands The drama of New Zealand’s landscape is present from the sustained and powerful opening of Lilburn’s A Song of Islands.

Muted colours, mauves and greens, are expressed by solo woodwind lines and shifting modal harmonies. Lilburn’s musical language tells of “oceans and… the inherited memory of the primordial voyage, shared by all New Zealanders”.

The music’s ebb and flow is suggestive of tidal movement and the suddenly changeable nature of the sea.

New Zealand’s offshore islands are naturally protected from many mainland influences, and water boundaries make islands easier to keep free of pests after their eradication. About 220 offshore islands—including New Zealand’s sub-Antarctic islands—and numerous small islets and rock stacks are under government protection, and some are now the most important refuges for native wildlife in the country. Islands are home to species such as kakapo, tuatara, and hihi (stitchbird) which have become extinct on the mainland.

Mainland islands—those surrounded by fences rather than water—are also important conservation tools. People can visit most offshore and mainland islands in New Zealand to see wildlife absent from much of the rest of the landscape.

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra enjoys a high profile as the country’s leading performance arts organisation. It gave its first public performance in March 1947 and its first—and current—Music Director, James Judd, was appointed in 1999. The orchestra attracts leading international conductors and soloists and gives over a hundred performances each year. These include seasons of major symphonic repertoire in seven centres, ‘Heartland’ and ‘Mainland’ tours to smaller centres, and a wide range of special programmes. It is involved in education programmes, performs family and schools concerts, accompanies major opera and ballet productions, and records for television, movies (including The Lord of the Rings) and for Radio New Zealand. It commissions and performs New Zealand music, and has a long recording history which has seen it move into the world market and win international awards. The orchestra’s profile has been considerably heightened recently with its acclaimed recordings of Lilburn’s Three Symphonies and Bernstein’s Symphony No.1, Jeremiah. The NZSO also administers the NZSO Chamber Orchestra, which has its own concert series, and the NZSO National Youth Orchestra.

Other releases featuring the NZSO on Trust Records

Gareth Farr Orchestral Music MMT2021

Kenneth Young Orchestral Music MMT2027

Landscapes NZ Orchestral Music MMT2037

Christmas Baroque MMT2043

David Farquhar Symphonies MMT2060

Shane Cotton (b.1964), Pouerua, 2003, acrylic on two panels, 1400 x 2800 mm.

Courtesy of Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland. Reproduced by permission of the artist.

Hamish McKeich is a versatile conductor who works regularly with

the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. He was recently appointed Associate Conductor of the orchestra. While based in Europe for 11 years, McKeich studied conducting with the world-renowned teacher and pedagogue Ilya Musin, and also with the prominent conductors Valery Gergiev, Sian Edwards, Peter Eรถtvรถs and Lawrence Leonard. During this time he also worked as a conductor and as a freelance bassoonist.

Recent conducting engagements have included appearances with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the NZSO Chamber Orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia, and performances of contemporary and experimental music with the ensembles Stroma and 175 East. McKeich regularly returns to Holland to direct the EX Orkest, and with them has embarked on three European tours.

Shane Cotton (b.1964) Born in Upper Hutt, New Zealand, with Maori affiliations to the Nga Puhi tribe, Shane Cotton has in the last decade emerged as a major presence in New Zealand art. His work is highly sought after by both private collectors and museum galleries. He has exhibited extensively in both New Zealand and Australia, and highlights of his career have included receiving the much-coveted Seppelt Art Award at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, the prestigious Frances Hodgkins fellowship at the University of Otago and most recently being the subject of a solo touring exhibition of ten years’ work at Wellington’s City Gallery and the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki.

Much of Cotton’s work aims to represent the shared experiences of Maori and Pakeha within this country, often through the employment of a series of numbers and symbols which highlight significant events and places in New Zealand history.

After completing studies at Ilam School of Fine Arts in Christchurch, Cotton’s work

was primarily abstract, and dominated by biomorphic forms. In 1993, Cotton moved to Palmerston North to take up a teaching position at Massey University. It was there that he developed a strong interest in more figurative images. In his 1994 exhibition ‘You Say A, B, C’, which was to be pivotal in his career, Cotton revisited the images painted by his ancestors, adding his own twist as an urban Maori of the 1990s. Cotton’s new direction appealed to a whole new set of admirers and he became one of the most sought-after artists in New Zealand. As Cotton continued to explore his heritage, the use of text became more prevalent in his work, at first juxtaposed with more figurative elements or as a figurative element itself.

Cotton’s most recent work juxtaposes graphically minimal concave circles next to delicately rendered figurative images.

Birds, heads and figures painted more to resemble photographic images have superseded the faux-naïve style of the figurative painting of his early work. These works again show Cotton’s typical melding of European and Maori cultures.

Released by HRL Morrison Music Trust MMT2059  2004 HRL Morrison Music Trust P 2004 HRL Morrison Music Trust Executive Producer Ross Hendy Booklet notes Kate Mead and Eric Dorfman Design Mallabar Music The HRL Morrison Music Trust gratefully acknowledges the support of the following people and organisations in the release of this recording: Melanie Roger (Gow Langsford Gallery, Auckland), City Gallery (Wellington), Kate Mead & Eric Dorfman

WILD MUSIC - A Concert FM Production Recorded in the Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington, New Zealand 26-28 January 2004.

Digital Stereo recording Producer Murray Khouri Recording, engineering and mastering Keith Warren Executive Producer for Concert FM Kate Mead Executive Producer for DOC Eric Dorfman Eric Dorfman would like to acknowledge the memory of his mother, Stacey Wellman

The HRL Morrison Music Trust was established in March 1995 as a charitable trust to support New Zealand musicians of international calibre. All funds received by the Trust are used to make recordings, present concerts – both in New Zealand and overseas – and assist artists to undertake projects to further develop their talents.

HRL Morrison Music Trust P O Box 1395 Wellington, New Zealand More information about other releases by the HRL Morrison Music Trust can be found at the internet site:

www.trustcds.com ALL RIGHTS OF THE PRODUCER AND OF THE OWNER OF THE WORK REPRODUCED ARE RESERVED. UNAUTHORISED COPYING, HIRING, LENDING, PUBLIC PERFORMANCE AND BROADCASTING OF THIS RECORDING IS PROHIBITED.

1 Christopher Marshall

Hikurangi Sunrise

9:21

6 Camille Saint-Saëns ‘Aquarium’ from The Carnival of the Animals

2:46

2 Pyotr Tchaikovsky

‘Puss in Boots and the White Cat’ from The Sleeping Beauty

7 Manuel de Falla

2:09

‘Ritual Fire Dance’ from El Amor Brujo

4:08

3 Antonín Dvor˘ák

The Wood Dove

21:29

8 Douglas Lilburn A Song of Islands

18:21

Total

72:32

4 Edward Elgar

Elegy for Strings

4:38

5 Hamish MacCunn

MMT2059 Digital Stereo Recording

The Land of the Mountain and the Flood

 2004 HRL Morrison Music Trust



P 2004 HRL Morrison Music Trust

8:49