Leonie Holmes Photo: Gareth Watkins / Lilburn Trust / Wallace Arts Trust
"Solstice was written at the time of the Winter Solstice, and my thoughts were of the cold earth, and the rituals that have been performed through the ages to encourage the coming of sunrise, warmth, light and rebirth.
The cor anglais is prominent throughout, as a kind of “steady voice”, while the various moods of the piece fluctuate around it.
I also found myself remembering childhood landscapes, especially images of the sea, and these two ideas become entangled, so that in fact the piece cannot be seen as programmatic to any great degree.
Both Solstice and Elegy were written during my year as composer-in-residence with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in 1997." ~ Leonie Holmes
