John Psathas Photo: Gareth Watkins / Lilburn Trust / Wallace Arts Trust
Performed by pianist Michael Houstoun with Orchestra Wellington conducted by Marc Taddei.
Three Psalms, a kind of piano concerto, was commissioned by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra at the instigation of Michael Houstoun (to whom it is dedicated). Psathas writes, "Michael's playing inspired me throughout its composition, and his enthusiasm for the work as it grew boosted the confidence that an be sensed in the music."
The first movement, 'Aria', introduces the simple melodic idea which 'tells the story' of the concerto and which evolves throughout it.
The second, 'Inferno', was inspired by the haunting and deeply disturbing images in James Nachtwey's photographic elegy of the same name. Nachtwey travels to the world's most troubled places and photographs the grimmest sights in such a way as to thrust them into the view of the world.
The final movement, 'Sergei Bk.3 Ch.1', becomes a celebration of the opening of the first movement of Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto, on of the most ebullient passages in all piano concerto repertoire. John Psathas writes, "This material has inspired me for the entire course of my musical life to date, and I have always wished that it lasted longer and went further. As I composed the final movement of [Three Psalms], there developed an irresistible gravity that drew together the energy in Prokofiev's concerto and that in my own."
Programme note developed from Erica Challis.
Recorded 26 September 2020, Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington by RNZ Concert
Producer: David McCaw
Engineer: Darryl Stack
