Work
Reminiscing on Ruapehu
for wind quintet and piano
Films, Audio & Samples
Buy or Borrow
Borrow/Hire:
To borrow items or hire parts please email SOUNZ directly at info@sounz.org.nz.
About
This work, written over two days, is inspired by my times spent at Mt Ruapehu, a volcano ski resort in the middle of the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. I have spent many happy holidays with my family there as a child, sleeping in a charming lodge on the mountain slopes, playing in the snow, hiking across the tussock-clad plateau to a secluded waterfall, and of course the long road trips there and back from Auckland City, stopping in towns along the way to eat lunch and watch passing trains.
The main motif, and its staggered variations, are derived from the syllabic metre and intonation of the word Ru-a-pe-hu. The piece is in ABCA form. The A section represents the majesty of the mountain, the B section the peaceful, crisp mountain atmosphere at sunset, and the C section both the 'clickity-clack' of railway coaches and the rumbling geological danger beneath the mountain.