PE002 - Te Tangi a te Matui & Wings of the Wind

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Te Tangi a te Matui & Wings of the Wind

Composer

Helen Fisher

Category

Instrumental music

Instrumentation

Solo flute

ISBN

0-9583679-1-4

Format

Paperback score

Price

NZ$35.00 (+GST)

Program note

I Te Tangi a te Matui: This piece for solo performer is based on a Maori karakia (incantation), which is first sung and then blended with the tangi (sound) of the flute. The ornate flute style, including quarter tones, is inspired by that of the small Maori flute, the koauau.

II Wings of the Wind: The inspiration for this piece is the daily dawn flight of flocks of starlings during the winter months from their nesting place on Tokomapuna (a small island near Kapiti Island, north of Wellington, New Zealand). The birds fly across a large, windy expanse of sea to disperse to their feeding grounds on the mainland, returning at dusk to Tokomapuna.

This edition was a winning score in the 1999 Newly Published Flute Music Competition of the National Flute Association, Inc. (USA).

Credits

Wings of the Wind was commissioned by flautist Catherine Bowie with financial support from Creative New Zealand, Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa.

Reviews

"Two works for flute by Helen Fisher are published in one volume. Te Tangi a te Matui (The Call of the Matui) was written to the memory of her mother, and calls for a solo performer to sing (alto voice) the opening incantation which is based on a traditional karakia. The same performer intersperses the chanting with solo flute playing. In some places singing and playing are called for simultaneously, creating an ingeniously integrated sonic landscape.

"Second in the volume is Wings of the Wind, a single-movement work for solo flute. Subtle and effective use is made of multiphonics and pitch bending, as well as wide variation of tone colour, including whistle tones.
"Both works have been widely played, and it is good to have them available commercially."

Martin Lodge, Canzona 1997