The Farewell

In Memory of Clinton Kearns (1979–2003)

Commissioned by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra

Premiere: June 2004
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya
Auckland Town Hall

Premiere of second version (reduced instrumentation): December 2004
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, conductor Kenneth Young
Federation Concert Hall, Hobart

Programme Note

I often use programmatic subjects in writing music, and when I began thinking about what this piece would be, one subject kept returning to me: the idea of saying goodbye to many things throughout our lives. All through our lives we see things disappear that are important to us. What I had specifically in mind, rather than the loss of loved ones, was the dwindling of ways of life. The fading of traditions, old practices, environments both natural and man-made, handed-down knowledge, and so on. Things we cherish and hold sacred from our childhood become relegated to history, and then forgotten on a regular basis. And the farewell to all that was what the piece was originally to be about. However in November 2003, a long-time friend died suddenly, and my thoughts were turned to my farewell to him. But I did not want to make this a requiem or an elegy. It needed to have at least some glimpse of the energy and audacity with which he lived. I have sought to bring together both the original subject, and the new. I've explored themes of resignation and resistance, reminiscence and grief, and final farewells.

The Farewell was commissioned by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra as part of the APO Composer Residency.

Audio recordings (APO, cond. Miguel Harth-Bedoya, and NZSO, cond. Hamish McKeich) on Sounz website.