27 Oct 2017

Claire COWAN: Legend of the Trojan Bird

From Resound, 9:03 pm on 27 October 2017

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Claire Cowan

Claire Cowan Photo: Supplied

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by Luke Dollmann. Recorded by RNZ Concert, 01 September 2010.

Claire Cowan is a composer and performer based in Auckland. She studied composition at Auckland University and since graduating with Honours in 2006, has pursued a career in music for concert, film and theatre. Claire is an experienced orchestrator and symphonic writer, having worked with many of New Zealand’s leading orchestras. Claire’s music has been performed by soloists and ensembles throughout the USA, New Zealand, Europe, Japan and Australia. Her film music has been heard in the New Zealand International Film Festival and many overseas festivals. She has a special interest in flamenco music and dance, and has twice collaborated with the Spanish Flamenco artist Isabel Rivera Cuenca, for performances throughout NZ. Her own performance project The Blackbird Ensemble, a 25 piece orchestra, has performed to sold-out crowds since its inception in 2010, covering rarely performed classical and popular music by living composers. In 2015–2016 Claire was Composer-in-Residence with Orchestra Wellington, and created a new violin concerto for Amalia Hall. In 2017 she won the APRA Best Original Music in a Series Award at the Silver Scrolls for her for her rich and varied soundtrack to the TV mini-series 'Hillary', which celebrated the life of Sir Edmund Hillary.

'Legend of the Trojan Bird' was written for the Auckland Youth Orchestra in 2008. The composer’s programme note takes the form of a poem:

in the ancient city
a moving shadow slowly engulfs the land
no cloud could be this dark
small hands at the window, pressed

growing as it moves nearer
wooden wings flapping, squeaking
lurching and shuddering
in all her dangerous beauty

man and nature
and the nature of man
are seen by the widening eyes of the city
swoop: hover: soar

with the silence of the night descending
for the first, in conversation
with the neighbourhood of stars
the song of the trojan bird is heard.

 

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