Musicians ‘reluctant’ to play N.Z. works

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33941, 6 September 1975, Page 16

Musicians ‘reluctant’ to play N.Z. works

(From Our Own Reporter) WELLINGTON, September 5. There is a “certain reluctance” on the part of musicians to play New Zealand compositions, according to the president of the Music Federation (Mr A. Hilton).

“As a federation comprising 55 member and associated societies in New Zealand, we encourage musicians to play New Zealand compositions wherever and whenever possible,” Mr Hilton said.

He said that New Zealand composers would never have their music played unless musicians first agreed to play it. He was commenting on the suggestion from a meeting of 40 composers at Hamilton that orchestras, instrumentalists, and other performers who received grants from the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council include a certain amount of New Zealand composition in their repertoire. Mr Hilton said: "The biggest trouble is that composers do not think very much in terms of what type of musical group is available, and they create a composition which is hard to fit into any programme schedule.” FITTING IN A work had to be able to fit into a public programme with other works, or it would never be played in public. New Zealand composers had to realise that they had to establish themselves first by writing music which was playable and which was acceptable to musicians. Noone could expect music to

r be played just because it had been written. There were hundreds of composers in countries such as Britain who very rarely had their work played. “It would be of great benefit to New Zealand’s composers if there was more communication between themselves and the Music Federation, if for no other reason that we can advise them of the types of musical groups available in New Zealand," said Mr Hilton.

“It is up to the composers to come to us to tell us what they can do—but most do not. We have to approach them.” FEDERATION’S POLICY The Music Federation had had the policy for the last three years of commissioning one work a year. It ran a secondary-school composition contest each year, and one Or two composers with potential had emerged. “We try to encourage

young composers because we do not want them to be like some eighteenth and nineteenth century composers who never heard their work played. But we cannot force musicians to play work they do not like,” he said. The federation had sent New Zealand compositions to visiting chamber music groups, soloists, and vocalists, asking that they include a piece in their concerts—but none had.

As a new approach, the London Sinfonietta, which played contemporary music, had been sent the scores of two works by John Rimmer. The orchestra had liked his work, and so the federation had commissioned a work from Mr Rimmer for the orchestra to include in its repertoire. ‘A GAMBLE’

“This cost quite a bit of money because we also have to pay for its rehearsals, and the success of a commissioned work is always subject to the willingness of the musicians to play it,” said Mr Hilton.

“Commissioning is always a gamble, because we pay for a work before we know its quality; but we consider it our duty to commission what works we can.” The advantage of the arrangement with the London Sinfonietta was that if it liked Mr Rimmer’s new work it would play it at concerts, and a New Zealand composer would thus become known overseas, Mr Hilton said.