'Arapatiki' was commissioned by Stephen De Pledge as one of a series of 'Landscape Preludes', and received its first performance in the Wigmore Hall, London, in January, 2004.
Arapatiki translates (from the Maori language) as 'the way of the flounder', and is the ancient name of the sand flats in front of my house at Harwood, near Dunedin.
The piece has something to do with the advance and retreat of the tide across the flats, where many species of sea and water birds spend much of the day - an ever-varying water-scape. The opening idea is based on the song of the korimako or bellbird. (Gillian Whitehead)
Recorded in the Ilott Theatre, Wellington Town Hall on 27 February 2008 by RNZ Concert
