soprano voice, bass recorder
Poem by Peggy Dunstan, used with permission of the Dunstan family
Composed 2014, duration 6’00”
Comissioned by Rowena Simpson and Kamala Bain, with funding from Creative New Zealand.
Rowena Simpson and Kamala Bain, St Andrews on the Terrace, Wellington, 13 May 2015:
Night Countdown is a setting of the poem of the same name by Peggy Dunstan. The text is rich with sound images, although the music does not interpret these especially literally. The setting attempts to follow the poem’s train of thought, while remaining open to multiple interpretations of its meaning, reflecting the sense of open-ended thinking experienced in the space between wakefulness and sleep.
Rowena Simpson and Kamala Bain, St Mark’s Churh, Lower Hutt, 29 October 2015