violin, piano
Composed 2004, duration 6’30”
Dedicated to Rieko Suzuki and Yuji Takahashi.
For the two summers preceding the composition of this piece, a tui sang the same uncharacteristically repetitive song behind my house. This melodic fragment appears as a cadential echo to the flow of the music. The most immediate image is of gentle fluvial movement, agitated by falling drops and stronger currents. Yet beneath the surface there is an insistence, an energy in suspension.
Water Sketch with Tui was written for Rieko Suzuki and Yuji Takahashi, for their visit to New Zealand in May 2004.
Performance by Andrew Beer and Sarah Watkins, from the Rattle album 11 Frames, released October 2019:
Performance by Johnny Chang and Donald Nicholson, Wellington, 2007: