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Brass Aotearoa
Music for Brass Band from New Zealand
The traditional brass band is the musical backbone of New Zealand. Brass bands, as they exist now, have been established for over 150 years and are prevalent throughout the world. The amateur brass band encapsulates a working class love of music, a ‘do-it-yourself’ ethic often epitomised by the British association of brass bands with coal mining, but just as relevant to New Zealand’s colonial history. Equally important is its appeal to youth, both as audience and participant. For younger musicians the brass band offers performance opportunities and a social component which are often both unavailable even to professional performers.
Before the advent of recording technology, it was in the form of brass band arrangements that New Zealanders heard contemporary orchestral repertoire from Europe. The civic function of bands in New Zealand also contributes significantly to their role, not simply as entertainment, but as organisations with responsibilities towards the community.
Over the course of the last 50 years contemporary composers have sought less to serve the band with arrangements of existing repertoire but rather to have the band serve them as communicators of new music. For New Zealand composers the opportunity existed to have their music played by capable musicians, before a committed and supportive audience. Larry Pruden and John Ritchie were among the first to create important works, such as Pruden’s Lambton Quay and Haast Highway. More recently Kenneth Young, John Psathas and Gareth Farr have contributed to the repertoire. The distinctive sound of the brass band, and the enthusiasm of its members, has allowed composers to develop a unique voice, inseparable from the musical
community to which it belongs. |
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Recorded in the Lower Hutt Town Hall, Lower Hutt, New Zealand, 5-7 January 2003.
Producer Murray Khouri, Continuum
Recording Engineer
Keith Warren, Radio New Zealand
Digital Editing and Mastering
Wayne Laird, Atoll
Executive Producer Ross Hendy
Booklet Notes Aaron Lloydd
Design Mallabar Music
The HRL Morrison Music Trust gratefully acknowledges the support of the following people and organisations in the making of this recording: Melanie Roger, John Gow, Lara Strongman, Owen Melhuish, Helen Hoy, Brass Bands Association of New Zealand, John Harrison
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