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Timepiece
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These four songs explore different states of mind in a quirky and emotional manner. They are reasonably challenging without being too difficult.

Opus No : 47

Category : Choir unaccompanied

Year : 1990

Duration :

Texts: 'Timepiece' by Cilla McQueen, 'Before the Fall' by Rachel McAlpine, 'I lie, I watch the ceiling' (no text) 'We could just Disappear' by Sam Hunt

Commissioned by : The Southern Consort of Voices in 1991, with funding from Creative NZ.

Instrumentation: SATB a cappella

Level : 3 - for professional and semi-professional musicians

Available from the composer

Recording information

Viva Voce Inc (2001) on CD Snapshots ACD901

Programme Note

This work was commissioned by The Southern Consort of Voices in 1991, with funding from Creative NZ. It sets three NZ poems to music, with a fourth song being wordless:

  1. Timepiece - poem by Cilla McQueen
  2. Before the Fall - poem by Rachel McAlpine
  3. I lie, I watch the ceiling (wordless)
  4. We could just disappear - poem by Sam Hunt

In 2001 Auckland choir Viva Voce recorded this work on their CD entitled 'Snapshots - A Cappella Choral Favourites' (contact: songanddance@xtra.co.nz).
Conductor John Rosser writes of the work -

"Anthony has a wonderful knack of writing for voice. 'Timepiece' portrays a woman struggling to break free of suburban neurosis and the tyranny of time. 'Before the Fall' alludes to lost childhood innocence, and 'We Could just Disappear' depicts the future as an endless tunnel of the mind."