A 55-minute orchestral journey through the history of New Zealand from pre-European times to today is being performed by the NZSO this week, with the help of local school children.
“An Instrumental Voyage - Pae Tawhiti, Pae Tata” features taonga puoro specialist Horomono Horo, singer Maisey Rika and the composer Jeremy Mayall on electronics.
Composer Jeremy Mayall Photo: Supplied
It’s part of a series of education concerts introducing young people to the sights and sounds of a symphony orchestra.
Mayall says the three movements in the piece each have a message. The first is about the arrival of the people. In it he’s embraced the sounds of Aotearoa, from bird sounds and taonga puoro to acknowledge the Maori story, and old English marches that represents New Zealand’s colonial heritage.
In the second movement, it addresses conflict and tension, but also a sense of “togetherness” where Maori and Pakeha have come together.
The third movement is more “aspirational”. “It’s about reaching a high goal,” he says. “Yeah, there’s been a whole bunch of terrible and dark things that have happened in the past, but that doesn’t mean that it needs to continue that way.
“It’s speaking to the youth…asking them the question of how can we make this better? Where can we go from here?”
Children in the audience are also encouraged to participate with the work by lending their voices. Children were provided with a video of ‘Nga Iwi E’, which has been incorporated into Mayall’s piece.
He hopes the audience will sing up. “Hopefully it will be an audience full of kids singing along with the orchestra,” he says. “It’s really showing that sense of togetherness and being a song for the people.”
The piece was commissioned to mark the 250th anniversary of James Cook’s first New Zealand landfall and initial encounters with Maori.
The piece is being performed in Dunedin, Christchurch, Blenheim, Lower Hutt and Porirua between September 14 and 20.
