Video

Pieta Hextall (b. 1986), Savanah Tukariri (b. 1988) and Kerepeti Paraone (b. 1988)

I - Te Waipounamu [South Island]

II -  Tāne-mahuta [Forests and Birds]

III - Wai Tuku Kiri [Lakes and Catchments]

IV - Tangaroa [Ocean]

V - He Puawaitaka [The Pā, the People]

The Christchurch Symphony Orchestra commissioned He Ngākau Aroha [Empathy] from Pieta Hextall, in association with Savanah Tukariri and Kerepeti Paraone, and in collaboration with members of Te Ahikaaroa Māori Trust. Tonight’s performance represents the world premiere of the full, five-movement work. He Ngākau Aroha is scored for an orchestra (incorporating traditional Māori instruments) and kapa haka (traditional, cultural performing groups featuring dance sequences and action songs).

Christchurch-based Pieta Hextall has forged a successful career as a composer, performer and teacher. A graduate of the New Zealand School of Music in Wellington, she has received a number of prizes for her compositions that are written principally for chamber music (particularly wind ensembles) and orchestra, and which have been work-shopped and performed in Australia and New Zealand.

Savanah Tukariri and Kerepeti Paraone are share-holders in Kororatahi Creative Ltd, a company dedicating to fostering and showcasing Māori culture, art and crafts. Both are multi-faceted musicians. Savanah has over 20 years of participation in kapa haka, and in the performing arts in general – with a particular affinity for musical theatre, dance and movement; and self-proclaimed “tutu” (“tinkerer”) Kerepeti has more than a decade of close involvement in live music and sound production, and in kapa haka and related art forms.

The diverse – but complementary – talents of all three artists inform the ethos, underlying philosophy and structure of  He Ngākau Aroha, which has its roots in the two waiata (songs) by Tauira Takurua that are woven into the opening and closing movements. A further waiata is threaded through the third movement; the second and fourth movements, on the other hand, are scored for orchestra alone, with provision (in movements 1, 2, 3 and 5) for improvisation from the Māori instrument players.

He Ngākau Aroha narrates – and celebrates – a cultural and spiritual journey that conjoins Māori legends with concepts of wellbeing and connectivity between Te Waipounamu (South Island) and its inhabitants. The first four movements charter a metaphorical exploration into specific elements of the South Island’s topography. In the final movement this odyssey is revealed to have an empathetic relationship with – and application to – people who throughout legend, history and to the present day, have shown themselves attuned to the natural cycles of their land.

He Ngākau Aroha draws on a wide palette of colours, textures and timbres to distil the different atmospheres conveyed by each of the five movements. “Te Waipounamu” begins in hushed tones, the regular patterns of gently rising and falling dynamics sustaining a soundscape of tranquil beauty. Greatly-pared-down orchestration featuring rippling harp figurations sounded against long-held string notes, marks the concisely-scored “Tāne-mahuta”. 

The oscillating wind sequences of “Wai Tuku Kiri” (taken over by the strings towards the end) convey the sense of ever-moving waters; contrasting with the fuller scoring and enhanced dynamic range of “Tangaroa” that evoke the turbulence and drive of ocean currents. The final movement, “He Puawaitaka”, reprises the serenity of “Te Waipounamu”, ending peacefully as the voices intone that governing quality of all relationships: “aroha” (love).

HYDROSPHERE

He puna wai, he puna tāngata.

The pool of water sustains the pool of people.

Our Earth is two-thirds water as are we.

Yet, the way that we treat our water is as if it were not so.

Returning to Canterbury after many years away,

I was both surprised and shocked at the visual changes to our rivers.

They are drying up.

Gone are the sheep of my childhood, replaced with cattle.

Gone are most of our wetlands,

replaced by human development.

Gone are many of the streams I remember,

replaced with dry earth.

Soon, gone will be our groundwater, 

exported overseas away from our freshwater ecosystems,

free of charge.

Hydrosphere is a meditation on our paradoxical relationship with our life source.

It is performed in this Resound film by its commissioners, Hannah Darroch (flute) and Andrew Crooks (piano), who received funding from Creative New Zealand’s COVID-19 response Arts Continuity Grants.

Audio engineered and produced by Graham Kennedy.

Film funded by NZ On Air.

BUBBLING WATERS/UNDERCURRENTS

Rising on the eastern slopes of Mt. Ruapehu and joining the Tongariro River system, eventually flowing into Lake Taupo. It then exits Lake Taupo creating Huka Falls, before turning into the mighty Waikato River. Follow these bubbling waters on their journey from mountains to sea.

POETICS OF WATER

NZ Music Month ~ Resonance Ensemble: 

Celebrating Matariki, A Cluster of NZ Composers

Matariki is a special occasion in the New Zealand calendar which marks the start of the Māori New Year. On 30 June 2024 Christchurch's Resonance Ensemble celebrated the occasion with a concert of music by New Zealand composers.

Douglas Lilburn, Patrick Shepherd, Tony Ryan. Maria Grenfell, Philip Norman, Chris Adams, & Pieta Hextall

Resonance Ensemble; Conductor: Tony Ryan; Soprano Soloist: Helen Charlton; Poems by Ursula Bethell – Reader: Ursula Ryan; Taonga Puoro: Chisallwood Intermediate School

Audio recording: Alex van den Broek; Video recording: Emma Smart

SHORTS

COLLABORATIONS

with Mahina Kingi-Kaui

OTHER PERFORMANCES

with No Broadcast

NO BROADCAST perform for episode four of Live at Alex's!

Featuring: Josh Braden (guitar & vocals), Pieta Hextall (keys) Shaun Burke (upright bass), and Thomas Isbister (drums).

Special thanks to The Last Word.

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Concept & production by Alex Harmer

Ümlaut & Bär McKinnon (from Mr Bungle)