the willing air (2023) – c. 17′
At Water’s Birth (2008) – c. 10′
the willing air (2023) – c. 17′
At Water’s Birth (2008) – c. 10′
the willing air
Recently retired as Associate Professor and Head of Composition at the University of Auckland, Eve de Castro-Robinson now works as a freelance composer, music consultant and writer. Her output ranges from large orchestral to vocal, chamber and electroacoustic works which are performed in NZ and internationally. Eve’s inspiration comes from a wide range of eclectic sources, including hymns, sonic art, free jazz, poetry, punk, abstract painting and contemporary dance.
About this work Eve writes: “The title is a phrase taken from a poem of my mother’s:
Were we to meet in unexpected places
A sudden warmth would fill the willing air…
It is dedicated to the memory of Aotearoa composer Jenny McLeod, an inspirational woman
and composer. Always reflective, she told me, “You can’t fool the Muse, she is higher than
God, a memorable phrase elevating the creative impulse.” My own composerly balancing of
the creative and spiritual involves the belief that each dimension is beyond human
understanding.
The character of this trio is directly influenced by a visit to a sanctuary in Melbourne, the Mingary Quiet Place. Intimate, meditative, and generally sotto voce, the willing air’s six movements reflect on Mingary’s elements of nature; rock, water and light, and its invitations to visitors, to Breathe. Refocus and reflect. Touch the stone. Go further.
I’m fortunate in having been to many meditative spaces, from Kyoto’s Ryōan-ji rock garden, the Rothko Room in London’s Tate, to The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Mingary had a special impact – its unexpected position on a busy city street, its unassumingness, its absence of gold and riches, its gentle suggestions. While the instruments are the voices of the players, the added use of the human voice deepens a sense of humanity, so I employ humming, whistling and other vocalisations, as well as a steady pace, and a simplicity of material, to encourage a meditative state in the listener.”
At Water’s Birth
The title and words used in the piece are lifted from the long poem Archipelago by Denys Trussell:
At water’s birth/the light deluge, /amen of stars/losing energy/earthwards
At the joining/of elements/the sea and/the eye of/the fish holding/the world/in its glance.
this liquid rhythm/ of space, this/blue turning/of the world/s water
archipelago
floating/in the light/s deluge/of the world/before its word.
Eve writes: “I have found Trussell’s poetry particularly inspiring for music. this liquid drift of light for piano (2000) was also to do with water-related imagery. There is a concern with ecology, geology, mythology and identity in the poems, which acts for me as a springboard to musical utterances of a ritualistic type – hence the vocalisations, whistling, and other heightened sonorities which pervade the work. The meandering sections of the music suggest a relationship with the forces of water, its depth, currents and undercurrents. The rhythm of the words too, is reflected in those of the music.”
Commissioned by NZTrio, with funding from Creative New Zealand.