Performed by a vocal sextet (Ella Ewen, Morag Atchison, Catrin Johnsson, Jack Timings, Gregory Camp, Rowan Johnston) and string quartet (Andrew Beer, Yuri Cho, David Samuel, James Yoo), conducted by Tecwyn Evans at the Karlheinz Company Suffrage 125 Celebration Concert
Louise Webster is a paediatrician, currently (2018) completing a DMus in composition at the School of Music.
Webster writes: “Kathmandu, city of the gods; mountains, running water, shrines, and animals; the intense quick-green of grasses rising to meet the monsoon rain; people working, singing, worshipping a multitude of gods and goddesses. A city of bustle, noise, filth, beggars, tourists, holy men, mountain-struck climbers and shop-keepers; where the dead are cremated on the banks of the Bagmati River, butter lamps burn at Swayambhunath, and the sounds of chanting and turning prayer wheels fill the air.”
Asan,Kathmandu Photo: Saurav Ratna Tuladhar Sauravrt CC2.0
The work was commissioned for a performance by the Song Company of Australia and the New Zealand String Quartet at the 2015 Adam Chamber Music Festival as part of a programme called “Cries of a City”, which also included Cries of London by Orlando Gibbons and Cries of Paris by Clément Janequin.
Singers: Ella Ewen, Morag Atchison (sopranos), Catrin Johnsson (alto), Jack Timings (tenor), Gregory Camp (baritone), Rowan Johnston (bass)
Quartet: Andrew Beer, Yuri Cho (violins), David Samuel (viola), James Yoo (cello)
Conducted by Tecwyn Evans
Recorded by RNZ Concert in the University of Auckland Music Theatre, 23 September 2018
Producer: Tim Dodd; Engineer: Rangi Powick
