A New Zealand Partita (New Zealand Festival)

A frequent recital and concerto soloist in New Zealand, pianist Stephen De Pledge has received international plaudits for his “spring-loaded virtuosity” (Independent on Sunday, UK) and “abundant musicianship” (Independent, UK). These exhilarating qualities come to the fore in A New Zealand Partita.

Commissioned especially for De Pledge, seven New Zealand composers – Leonie Holmes, Chris Gendall, Chris Norton, Alex Taylor, Juliet Palmer, Celeste Oram and Helen Bowater – have written pieces inspired by JS Bach’s Partita no. 3 in A minor.

In a series of fascinating three-way conversations between composers, pianist and Bach himself – the performance includes Bach’s original partita – we hear this 18th-century musical form reimagined for the 21st century.

JS Bach Partita no.3 in A minor BWV 827

Bach Fantasia
Leonie Holmes Fantasia

Bach Allemande
Chris Gendall Monolithe Allemand

Bach Corrente
Christopher Norton Corrente

Bach Sarabande
Alex Taylor Sarabande, Inertia Study

Bach Burlesca
Juliet Kiri Palmer Burl

Bach Scherzo
Celeste Oram $cher.zo (two one four-hundred and thirteen dollars forty)

Bach Gigue
Helen Bowater Gigue – a pataphor: that which occurs when a lizard’s tail has grown so long it breaks off and forms a new lizard

A New Zealand Partita is part of the New Zealand Festival.