Transform with Ariana Tikao| 2026 Storytellers Season Cont.
Presenting: Transform, a special programme in our 2026 Storytellers Season, with Ariana Tikao
Christchurch - The Piano | Thursday 17 September
To read programme notes for our concerts in Kaikōura (18 September) click here and for the concert in Blenheim (19 September) click here
PROGRAMME NOTES
Ariana Tikao (1971- ) Kāi Tahu and Philip Brownlee (1971–) Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Toa Rangatira
Manaaki (2022) for taonga pūoro and string quartet
Manaaki is a key concept for Māori people, meaning ‘to support, take care of, give hospitality to, protect, show respect and generosity for others.’ This piece takes inspiration from the pōwhiri process, the ritual of encounter, where the mana whenua (hosts) welcome in the manuhiri (guests). This should uphold the mana (reputation) of the home people as well as acknowledge and enhance the wellbeing of the people entering.
It starts with the shifting of energy through the use of the pūrerehua (bullroarer), which indicates something is about to start. Then the kaikaranga (ceremonial callers) weave their voices together, as portrayed by the pūtōrino flute and strings, shooting up into the heavens and descending to earth. This is followed by an invocation of the mournful tangi, bringing in the presence of the ancestors. The next section represents the voices of the kaikōrero (orators), a robust musical discussion among the male voices of the ensemble.
The piece then moves into the hongi, sharing our sacred breath, which symbolises peace, and a chance to reflect on the process and transition before a more improvisational ending, that indicates a release and celebration that the ceremony has been completed. Through experiencing this ritual and understanding the principle of manaakitanga, we are reminded of how we should treat each other, in a way that enhances each other’s mana through dialogue and respect. Manaaki was originally commissioned by Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts.
Mauri ora, Ariana and Philip
Anthony Ritchie (NZ) (1960-)
String Quartet No.3, ‘In Time’ Op. 221 (2023)
III. Perpetual Motion
V. Last Dance
The work is a meditation on the passing of time and explores the temporal nature of our existence; at the same time, it celebrates the joy of creating and performing music in time with each other.
This performance features two movements from the work. Perpetual Motion evokes the steady swing of a pendulum, creating an uneasy reflection on the brevity of our lives through constantly evolving rhythmic energy. Last Dance brings the work to a compelling close with a clockwork character, relentlessly building interlocking patterns over a persistent ostinato, recalling thematic material from the opening movement and suggesting time's inexorable onward motion.
In Time was written for The Jade Quartet in Auckland: Miranda Adams and Liu-Yi Retallick on violins, Robert Ashworth on viola and James Yoo on cello. It was premiered at Ferndale House in Auckland, June 24, 2023.
Dedicated to Diana Gash.
By Anthony Ritchie
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847)
String Quartet in E flat major, H.277 (1834)
I. Adagio ma non troppo
II. Allegretto
III. Romanze
IV. Allegro molto vivace
It is difficult to imagine that Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, a composer of extraordinary ability, saw so little of her music reach the public during her lifetime. Yet social conventions in early nineteenth-century Berlin left little room for women of her class to pursue public artistic careers. Her brother Felix’s reservations also shaped her path, leaving much of her music to be heard only in the family’s celebrated Sunday musicales.
Composed in 1834, her only string quartet is one of the first surviving examples of this genre written by a female composer. It received just one private performance during her lifetime and was not published until 1988. Reworking material from an unfinished piano sonata begun five years earlier, Fanny created a work of striking originality and emotional depth.
Beethoven’s influence, especially that of the “Harp” Quartet, Op. 74, is unmistakable, yet the quartet’s distinctive structure (slow, fast, slow, fast) and adventurous harmonic language reveal Fanny‘s unique musical voice. The opening movement sustains a remarkable sense of harmonic uncertainty before finally arriving at the tonic of E-flat major with an air of inevitability, while the scherzo remains both light and elusive. A lyrical slow movement forms the emotional heart of the work, and the energetic finale transforms earlier ideas into a triumphant conclusion.
Although Fanny sometimes doubted her ability to sustain large-scale musical forms, this quartet proves otherwise. It stands as an extraordinary achievement, remarkable for its originality, ambition, and expressive power.
By Martin Smith
Ariana Tikao (1971- ) Kāi Tahu and Leyton Glen
Tuia (2008)
I created this out of an excerpt from a tauparapara - a kind of spoken chant performed to bridge the world of the living and the dead. This waiata was first recorded on my Tuia album (2008) and co-composed and produced by Leyton Glen. The version I perform with the New Zealand String Quartet is largely improvised apart from the sung part, but the musicians are very much working with the emotion, wairua and fluidity of the piece.
Mauri ora, Ariana
Interval
Gareth Farr (1968-)
He Poroporoaki (2008)
He Poroporoaki (A Farewell) was co-composed and premiered by Gareth Farr & taonga pūoro player Richard Nunns for the 2008 Dawn Service Commemoration at ANZAC Cove, Gallipoli in Turkey.
From 2006, a Turkish, Australian, or New Zealand composer was invited to contribute a work leading up to the 100th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli in 2015. He Poroporoaki was the third work in this Spirit of Place series of commissions (2006 – 2015), which seeks to create an ambiance before the period of silence at the Dawn Services held at the commemoration site.
The five-minute work was intended to feature something of New Zealand’s spirit and is a ‘deconstructed’ version of the popular song Now is the Hour. Initially published as a piano-variations piece called Swiss Cradle Song and credited to Australian, Clement Scott, Now is the Hour has had a number of modifications and title changes, including the addition of Māori words in the version of Po Atarau, which was used to farewell Māori soldiers going to the First World War.
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
String Quartet No. 2, in C major, Op. 36 (1945)
I. Allegro calmo, senza rigore
II. Vivace
III. Chacony: sostenuto
While still enjoying the success of Peter Grimes (1945), Benjamin Britten turned his attention to several new compositions, including his String Quartet No. 2. Written as part of the 250th anniversary commemorations of Henry Purcell’s death, the quartet reflects Britten’s deep admiration for the composer he revered above all others.
Rejecting the pastoral nationalism of Vaughan Williams and his contemporaries, Britten sought a modern English musical voice through Purcell’s example. Writing to Mary Behrend, he described the quartet as “the greatest advance I have yet made,” suggesting he had discovered a new compositional direction.
Completed after Britten returned from Germany, where he accompanied Yehudi Menuhin in concerts for survivors of Nazi concentration camps, the quartet carries a remarkable emotional intensity. Its three movements unfold on a symphonic scale: two expansive outer movements surround a tense and unsettling central scherzo.
Purcell’s influence is most clearly felt in Britten’s use of Baroque-inspired forms and gestures, culminating in the finale titled Chacony, using Purcell’s own spelling. Heard alongside Purcell’s Chacony earlier in tonight’s programme, Britten’s finale reveals the enduring influence of a composer who remained a constant source of inspiration throughout his life.
A Personal reflection
2026 marks the 50th anniversary of Benjamin Britten’s death, and the New Zealand String Quartet are commemorating this milestone by centring their season around performances of all three of his remarkable string quartets.
Around a decade ago, I had the privilege of being invited by the Britten–Pears Foundation to stay for a week in Britten’s home in Aldeburgh, on the east coast of England. It was a surreal experience to wake each morning in the very place that inspired so many of his most significant works. Aldeburgh has changed very little over the years, and I felt a vivid connection to the environment that shaped Britten’s creative life.
Britten was a committed pacifist — an outlook that profoundly informed both his life and his music, particularly works written during and after World War II. Experiencing his music today, in a world still marked by conflict and uncertainty, brings an added poignancy.
It is a special privilege to perform these extraordinary quartets across Aotearoa New Zealand as a member of our national string quartet, sharing music that speaks not only of its time, but also so eloquently to our own.
by Peter Clark
MUSICIANS
Ariana Tikao - taonga pūoro and voice
New Zealand String Quartet
Peter Clark – violin
Donald Armstrong – guest violin
Gillian Ansell – viola
Martin Smith – cello
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