By:

• Anthony Ritchie

Duration:

10' 00"

Contents:

1. Timepiece 2. Before the Fall 3. I lie, I watch the ceiling 4. We could just disappear

Availability

• This work has 2 scores and 2 recordings

Programme Note

This work was commissioned by The Southern Consort of Voices in 1991, with funding from Creative NZ. It sets three NZ poems to music, with a fourth song being wordless: Timepiece to a poem by Cilla McQueen; Before the Fall to a poem by Rachel McAlpine; I lie, I watch the ceiling (wordless); and We could just disappear to a poem by Sam Hunt.

In 2001 Auckland choir Viva Voce recorded this work on their CD entitled Snapshots – A Cappella Choral Favourites. Conductor John Rosser writes of the work – “Anthony has a wonderful knack of writing for voice. Timepiece portrays a woman struggling to break free of suburban neurosis and the tyranny of time. Before the Fall alludes to lost childhood innocence, and We Could just Disappear depicts the future as an endless tunnel of the mind.”

Text Note:

1. Cilla McQueen 2. Rachel McAlpine 3. No text 4. Sam Hunt

Commissioned:

Commissioned by the Southern Consort of Voices

Difficulty:

Advanced

Funders:

• Creative New Zealand

Performance History

	12 Sep 2008	Performed by Cantemus Chamber Choir conducted by Robert Court as part of the IAMIC Concert held at St Augustine’s Church, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom Before the fall; I lie, I watch the ceiling; We could just disappear