Performed by Anna Leese and Richard Mapp at the Adam Summer Celebration, Nelson Centre of Musical Arts, February 2021.
Soprano Anna Leese Photo: Supplied
Anna Leese sings two songs from Ritchie’s large-scale oratorio, From The Southern Marches. The work was commissioned in 1997 by Otago historian George Griffiths and the texts were chosen by him to reflect life in the southern region.
‘Tēnei te Pipi’ is a lament sung by a grieving widow Kaukoe for her husband Te Puoho who was killed in an engagement between Ngāti Tama and Ngāi Tahu at Tuturau in Southland. And ‘Milking Before Dawn’ is a poem by Ruth Dallas in which the narrator, working in a cowshed early morning, contemplates what it might be like to be a city-dweller still asleep.
Then she sings ‘He Moemoeā’, or ‘A Dream’ … a text by Keri Hulme depicting the image of a child dancing on the beach.
Recorded by Bob Bickerton in the Nelson Centre of Music Arts, February 2021 and made available to RNZ through the Adam Chamber Music Festival.
