The Eventide

The work was written in 2007 when I was undertaking a Masters programme. The course was largely unstructured and allowed me the opportunity to write a port-folio of various genres and I chose to make Eventide the central work of the thesis. In my youth I sang an arrangement of the original hymn that stuck with me for some reason and when searching for text to use in the Eventide, Abide with me seemed to keep resurfacing after which I made a conscious decision to use each verse as the basis for contrasting movements.

Compositionally the piece setup what has become the language that I have continued to use over the past 10 years, and while the work is stylistically quite accessible to audiences, it none the less contains elements that for me at the time were exercises in trying new ideas. Looking retrospectively on the piece I can see that now how it became a catalyst for future works, but at the same time enjoy listening to the composer I was 10 years ago.

The original work was scored for mezzo and string orchestra but the opportunity to have it performed by Wairua Sinfonietta meant for the inclusion of winds and now also chorus, so the work has grown vertically both in colour and variation but not in length.