Work
Rossetti Fragments
for orchestra, choir and concert band
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About
This work is a setting of three fragments from the poetry of Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), probably best known for poems such as In the bleak mid-winter and Love came down at Christmas. Certainly much of her poetry has a concern with love and death, although the texts used here are all to do with singing.
The piece divides into three sections following the divisions of the text, and begins with an introductory section for the orchestra. The music of the opening choral section returns in a slightly modified form as the final section.
The work was commissioned for the Hamilton Music School held in August 1991, and was intended for the entire school to perform: choir, orchestra and symphonic band members. The scoring has some degree of flexibility as I could not be sure in advance who I was writing for.
A planned performance of the work at the Bay of Plenty Music School in early 2008, prompted a revision of the work (and the opportunity to put it onto computer). An additional stanza was also added to the second text.
Includes parts for concert band players.
Commissioned note
Commissioned by the Hamilton Music School in 1991 with funding from Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council (now Creative New Zealand) and the Composers Foundation (APRA)
Text note
Text from the poetry of Christina Rossetti
Performance history
25 Aug 1991: Premiered by participants at the Hamilton Music School 1991
27 Apr 2008: BOP Music School Final Concert