Robin Toan Photo: Supplied by composer
Robin Toan wrote this piece as part of her residency as the first Composer-in-Residence for the NZSO National Youth Orchestra, and was premiered by that orchestra in 2005, under Edwin Outwater. Conductor Gemma New first encountered Toan’s piece while a member of that National Youth Orchestra and she remembers the positive impression it made on the players and audiences.
Tū-mata-uenga 'God of War, Spirit of Man' was inspired by the Māori myth of creation. In the beginning, Ranginui the Sky Father and Papatūānuku the Earth Mother clasped each other in a tight embrace, their children (the Māori gods) forced to crawl between them in the darkness. At last their children hatched a plan to separate Ranginui and Papatūānuku, so that they would have room to grow.
Toan writes: “I have portrayed the parts of the story where Tū-mata-uenga [the Māori god of war] struggles to tear Rangi from Papa. Tū-mata-uenga... leapt at the task, hacking wildly at the sinews that bound Earth and Sky, making them bleed [...] But even Tū, the fiercest of the sons, could not sever Rangi from his lover Papa.”
The deep urge to survive met the equally powerful force of love – and is so overpowering as to suffocate.
Recorded 29 August 2020, Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington by RNZ Concert
Producer: David McCaw
Engineer: Darryl Stack
