Photo: 123RF
The members of New Zealand Chamber Soloists are: Lara Hall (violin), James Tennant (cello), Katherine Austin (piano)
'Dark Bright Night' is one of the pieces to come out of the NZ Chamber Soloists’ commissioning project 7 by 7 – seven works of seven minutes each from seven New Zealand women composers.
Jenny McLeod’s programme note for her piece is a self-written poem which suggests her own response to the music as she wrote it.
In it she mentions "tone clock" and "hours" – these are references to the harmonic system in which she writes her music. Also, there are mentions of two of her earlier works, the monumental 'Earth and Sky', and the piece for choir 'Childhood'. She also refers to her upcoming 80th birthday. The Māori word tūturu in this context may refer to the voice of a woman.
The poem, Dark Bright Night, is printed here, courtesy of Jenny McLeod.
here in the small wee hours
the tone clock’s tempered
geometries enchanting
as hidden rainbow
darknesses
no more sea, no rocks
no ebb nor flow, nor imaginary birds
but play of the third hour subscale
familiar as earth and sky
and the adorable
second hour all shape shifting
airily, merrily
minor to major and back,
this fresher warming
beguiling as the tūturu
shadows, flashes, shocks
sudden, shuddering tremolo
background foreground (which?
or who?) and contrary
motion (unity). . .what?
‘aliens talking to angels’?
(the lady lies in her pool
in the dark, eavesdropping)
sharp-edged, punchy, headlong
crunchy, quirky, perky
get a grip
echoes of childhood
going on eighty
this is
the way the world ends?
(or the programme maybe). . .
not with a whimper, anyway
Jenny McLeod (June 2020)
Recorded by RNZ Concert in Auckland Concert Chamber, 28 March 2021
Sound Engineer: Adrian Hollay
Producer: Tim Dodd
