Waikanae Music Society

PROGRAMME

DOUBLE LATERAL

SUNDAY 9 October AT 2.30PM,
WAIKANAE MEMORIAL HALL

JOHN PSATHAS
(b 1966)
FRAGMENT
(arr Fitzsimons)
This short work is an arrangement of an adaptation for vibraphone and piano of the original piano duet. The Composer wrote this piece at the same time as his double concerto View from Olympus, and in mood and musical material it is related to the second movement of the concerto.

DAVID FRIEDMAN
(arr Fitzsimons)
LUNCH WITH PANCHO VILLA
David Friedman, a leading figure in Percussion and jazz education, heads the jazz departmtent at the Hoschule der Kunste in Berlin. Internationally renowned as a vibraphonist, marimbist and composer, he co-founded the unique vibe-marimba quartet Double Image.

Arr JEREMY FITZSIMONS

TANGO SUITE

  Por Una Cabeza
  Desde el Alma
  El Choclo
The famous tune Por Una Cabeza by Carlos Gardel has been used in many movies including True Lies, Tango Bar and Scent of a Woman. The original lyrics liken betting and losing at the horse races to relationships with woman - always losing by a head (por una cabeza) but still addicted to the thrill. Desde el Alma (From the Soul) became famous when included in the 1940s movie Pobre mi madre querida, but was originally written by Rosita Melo in 1917 when she was only 14. El Choclo composed by Angel Villoldo, was first performed at the exclusive Restaurante Americano in Buenos Aires in 1905 by pianist Jose Luis Roncallo. Although uncertain about playing a tango for his upper-class audience, the tune was so compelling that he decided to sneak it in disguised as a Creole dance.

MARK DUGGAN
(b 1967)
MYOTOKUGI (1998)
Toronto based percussionist and composer Mark Duggan was inspired to write this piece following a visit to Japan. He writes: "I was excited to visit a variety of Zen Buddhist temples ... my intuition then was to distil experiences from those places into a work for solo marimba that would be reflective of the mental process of meditation inspired by those sacred temples."

J S BACH (1685-1750)
PRELUDE AND FUGUE
From the first volume of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier this was originally intended as a keyboard solo. It has been transcribed by Scandinavian percussion ensemble Safi Duo as a duet for melodic percussion instruments. In the Prelude the melody is played on vibraphone and the accompaniment on marimba. The Fugue is written for two voices and so is ideally suited for performance as a duet with both performers playing marimba.

INTERVAL

JOHN PSATHAS
UKIYO (marimba, vibraphone, and CD)
Composed in 2005 with funding from Creative New Zealand and Chamber Music New Zealand. Zen monks and haiku poets spoke of life in terms of a transient floating world, or of a dream that vanishes. In the traditional Buddhist view, our corporeal existence is one in which happening gives way to happening, illusion follows illusion, and all of it is nothing but a phantasm void of substance.

GARETH FARR (b 1968)
THEME FROM DUGGAN
Gareth Farr is one of New Zealand's best known composers and has written prolifically for many combinations of instruments, in many differing styles. This short theme was written for the 1997 pilot of the Duggan TV series. It was used throughout the series, which screened on TV One from 1998 - 99.

ASTOR PIAZZOLLA
(1921 - 1992)
FROM HISTOIRE DU TANGO
  Café 1930
  Nightclub 1960
Piazzolla first came to the fore as a bandoneon player in the 1930s. In 1954 he went to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger and it was there that he set his style, which incorporated both classical music and tango. Histoire du Tango was written in 1985 for flute and guitar and is one of Piazzolla's most popular and enduring works. Each movement portrays a moment in the musical history of Buenos Aires.

DAVID FRIEDMAN
AIR SCULPTURE (1999)
Air Sculpture for marimba solo comes from Friedman's solo CD of the same name. This composition features fast, angular lines with a beautiful chordal middle section, ending with linear 'brush strokes' racing skyward into the upper extremities of the marimba.

GARETH FARR
DIALOGUE FOR MARIMBA & VIBRAPHONE
  Introduction
  Kotekan
  Moto perpetuo
This piece was commissioned by Jeremy Fitzsimons in 2004 with funding from Chamber Music New Zealand and is Gareth's first work for two mallet percussion instruments. The first movement is a development of a chord progression played by the marimba at the beginning; Balinese interlocking techniques (kotekan) are used in the second movement; and the third movement is a moto perpetuo (constant motion) with the two instruments dashing forwards in parallel, in counterpoint, and in canon.

Jeremy Fitzsimons and Kristie Ibrahim met while practising their double laterals at an international marimba seminar in New Jersey in 1997. The term 'double lateral' refers to a type of stroke used in four mallet playing where two consecutive notes are derived from one stroke. The vibraphone and marimba are both mallet instruments, the main difference being that the vibraphone's note bars are aluminium and the marimba's rosewood. Jeremy and Kristie have played together at the Marimba Festival in New York in 1998 and with the New Zealand group Stike in 2001 - 2002. This is their first tour as Double Lateral.

JEREMY FITZSIMONS graduated from Victoria University in 1995. A Fullbright Scholarship took him to the United States where he received a Masters degree and Performance Certificate from Northwestern University in Chicago. He was a founding member and director of the percussion group Strike from 1993 to 2003. Currently working with the NZSO, he has also toured for Chamber Music New Zealand both as a duo with Bridget Douglas (flute) and with Tango Virtuosi. In 2004 a CD called 'Fragments' on which Jeremy performs works by John Psathas won best classical CD at the New Zealand Music Awards.

KRISTIE IBRAHIM was born in Saskatchewan, Canada. She graduated from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and is also a graduate of the Leigh Howard Stevens International Marimba Seminar. More recently she has completed a Masters degree in percussion at McGill University in Montreal. She has performed with numerous ensembles and orchestras both in North America and in New Zealand including the NZSO, the NZSO Chamber Orchestra, the Auckland Philharmonia and the Wellington Sinfonia. She is also a former member of the well known New Zealand percussion ensemble Strike.

"DOUBLE LATERAL PRESENT THIS CONCERT AS PART OF A CHAMBER MUSIC NEW ZEALAND TOUR"

JOHN PSATHAS (b 1966) FRAGMENT (arr Fitzsimons)	This short work is an arrangement of an adaptation for vibraphone and piano of the original piano duet. The Composer wrote this piece at the same time as his double concerto View from Olympus, and in mood and musical material it is related to the second movement of the concerto.
DAVID FRIEDMAN (arr Fitzsimons) LUNCH WITH PANCHO VILLA	David Friedman, a leading figure in Percussion and jazz education, heads the jazz departmtent at the Hoschule der Kunste in Berlin. Internationally renowned as a vibraphonist, marimbist and composer, he co-founded the unique vibe-marimba quartet Double Image.
Arr JEREMY FITZSIMONS TANGO SUITE Por Una Cabeza Desde el Alma El Choclo	The famous tune Por Una Cabeza by Carlos Gardel has been used in many movies including True Lies, Tango Bar and Scent of a Woman. The original lyrics liken betting and losing at the horse races to relationships with woman - always losing by a head (por una cabeza) but still addicted to the thrill. Desde el Alma (From the Soul) became famous when included in the 1940s movie Pobre mi madre querida, but was originally written by Rosita Melo in 1917 when she was only 14. El Choclo composed by Angel Villoldo, was first performed at the exclusive Restaurante Americano in Buenos Aires in 1905 by pianist Jose Luis Roncallo. Although uncertain about playing a tango for his upper-class audience, the tune was so compelling that he decided to sneak it in disguised as a Creole dance.
MARK DUGGAN (b 1967) MYOTOKUGI (1998)	Toronto based percussionist and composer Mark Duggan was inspired to write this piece following a visit to Japan. He writes: "I was excited to visit a variety of Zen Buddhist temples ... my intuition then was to distil experiences from those places into a work for solo marimba that would be reflective of the mental process of meditation inspired by those sacred temples."
J S BACH (1685-1750) PRELUDE AND FUGUE	From the first volume of Bach's Well Tempered Clavier this was originally intended as a keyboard solo. It has been transcribed by Scandinavian percussion ensemble Safi Duo as a duet for melodic percussion instruments. In the Prelude the melody is played on vibraphone and the accompaniment on marimba. The Fugue is written for two voices and so is ideally suited for performance as a duet with both performers playing marimba.
	INTERVAL
JOHN PSATHAS UKIYO (marimba, vibraphone, and CD)	Composed in 2005 with funding from Creative New Zealand and Chamber Music New Zealand. Zen monks and haiku poets spoke of life in terms of a transient floating world, or of a dream that vanishes. In the traditional Buddhist view, our corporeal existence is one in which happening gives way to happening, illusion follows illusion, and all of it is nothing but a phantasm void of substance.
GARETH FARR (b 1968) THEME FROM DUGGAN	Gareth Farr is one of New Zealand's best known composers and has written prolifically for many combinations of instruments, in many differing styles. This short theme was written for the 1997 pilot of the Duggan TV series. It was used throughout the series, which screened on TV One from 1998 - 99.
ASTOR PIAZZOLLA (1921 - 1992) FROM HISTOIRE DU TANGO Café 1930 Nightclub 1960	Piazzolla first came to the fore as a bandoneon player in the 1930s. In 1954 he went to Paris to study with Nadia Boulanger and it was there that he set his style, which incorporated both classical music and tango. Histoire du Tango was written in 1985 for flute and guitar and is one of Piazzolla's most popular and enduring works. Each movement portrays a moment in the musical history of Buenos Aires.
DAVID FRIEDMAN AIR SCULPTURE (1999)	Air Sculpture for marimba solo comes from Friedman's solo CD of the same name. This composition features fast, angular lines with a beautiful chordal middle section, ending with linear 'brush strokes' racing skyward into the upper extremities of the marimba.
GARETH FARR DIALOGUE FOR MARIMBA & VIBRAPHONE Introduction Kotekan Moto perpetuo	This piece was commissioned by Jeremy Fitzsimons in 2004 with funding from Chamber Music New Zealand and is Gareth's first work for two mallet percussion instruments. The first movement is a development of a chord progression played by the marimba at the beginning; Balinese interlocking techniques (kotekan) are used in the second movement; and the third movement is a moto perpetuo (constant motion) with the two instruments dashing forwards in parallel, in counterpoint, and in canon.