Matthew Crawford is a media producer, currently living in Melbourne, and has composed works for the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and 175 East among others.
'A Place to Lose and Find Yourself' reflects an experience he had of standing on Piha Beach, one of Auckland’s wild West Coast beaches.
Piha Beach Photo: trixxxxxx from pixabay
On a grey, windy day he witnessed great plumes of sea spray and observed an empty bottle of Japanese whiskey washed up on the beach.
He describes being energised by the natural spectacle, and he imagined how gloomy the city dwellers on the other side of the Waitakere ranges must be feeling in the weather.
He uses the flutes and percussion principally to give a sense of the rising and falling of the sea - including a wind machine to heighten the experience of being on a beach on a blustery day.
Recorded by Radio New Zealand Concert, 24 July 2003.
