Anthony Ritchie Photo: Gareth Watkins / Lilburn Trust / Wallace Arts Trust
Ants was commissioned in 2016 by Christopher Marshall on request from violinist Donald Armstrong for this Ensemble.
The five sections – Hatching, Working, Anteater, Self-impaling, and Survival – are played as a single continuous movement.
Photo: Faris Algosaibi / CC BY 2.0
The composer says, ‘although there are hundreds of species of ant, this music is informed more by their generic characteristics: a fierce work ethic, a tremendous sense of community, and their constant high level of activity.
The piece also portrays some of the challenges in their lives, such as other invading ants and anteaters!
Amici Ensemble: Donald Armstrong and Malavika Gopal (violins), Julia Joyce and Andrew Thomson (violas) and Andrew Joyce and Ken Ichinose (cellos)
Recorded 15 May 2016, St Andrew's on the Terrace, Wellington by RNZ Concert
Engineer: Graham Kennedy
