Last night’s Summer Soirée in Hokitika was an excellent experience.
Held in the Renton Hardware Building, an old brick-built building that narrowly escaped demolition and is now being restored thanks to its owners and volunteers, the huge space lends itself to performance. It currently houses some of the artefacts from The Luminaries, along with tapa, trinkets, signs and furniture from yesteryear. It is a very atmospheric place and one that deserves to be treasured.
Our small recital (I sang and Kyle Hsieh, a university student who lives in Greymouth and is studying music in Ōtautahi Christchurch, played piano) was well-attended with forty three people making up an audience. The space has assorted seating and perching areas with tables and chairs, chaise-longues, couches and benches scattered throughout; a very comfortable and relaxed setting to perform in.
Across the Pacific the tradition is to welcome visitors with a song. In the absence of a welcoming song in my classical repertoire I opted for the Unst Boat Song, a very well-known tune from the islands. Then it was into the first part of the recital: Songs of Travel by Ralph Vaughan Williams, setting the words of Robert Louis Stevenson. (Incidentally there is a Shetland connection here through the Stevenson family lighthouses that dot the coastline of Scotland, and a Pacific connection, for Robert Louis Stevenson lived – and died – in Samoa.) This song cycle has been part of my repertoire for thirty years and is a real favourite. A few years ago I stopped performing it because it felt like it had become too familiar but now, in a new country with new-to-me people to hear and appreciate the music, it has become at once familiar and yet renewed again. It was a lovely thing to return to it, surrounded by friends, and in the beautiful space.
After a break I sang three songs from George Butterworth’s A Shropshire Lad cycle. The first three – Loveliest of Trees, When I was One and Twenty and Look Not In My Eyes – should, strictly speaking not be performed without the second trio but, as I was singing them unaccompanied…
Kyle then played Felix Mendelssohn’s Venetian Gondola Song before introducing Douglas Lilburn’s From the Port Hills. The Port Hills, the remains of an ancient volcano, line the edge of Ōtautahi Christchurch and are instantly recognisable landmarks. Called Ngā Kohatu Whakarakaraka o Tamatea Pōkai Whenua in Māori, the name refers to a story of an explorer who, caught in a storm at the top of the hills while surveying the land below, called out karakia (incantations) to seek assistance, which came in the form of warm geothermal activity.
It was time for Sings Harry, the Douglas Lilburn cycle of six songs, setting the words of Denis Glover. These short but powerful pieces are magical in their intensity as they describe a New Zealand man through his life. There is a connection here too. Lilburn knew Ralph Vaughan Williams who was his tutor in composition in London and remained a close friend.
At the end of the evening the audience stayed on to chat and mingle before drifting off home. It was a lovely evening and I am sure we will repeat it before too long.
Thank you to Kyle, to all who managed to get along and to the owners of Renton Hardware Building for allowing us the use of the venue and the flowers and wine for the event.
Leave a Reply