Hamilton-based composer Martin Lodge's new CD is distinctly 21st century New Zealand.
The University of Waikato associate professor, who has a strong track record of contemporary composition, has blended Western instruments with taonga puoro - traditional Maori instruments - for the 11-track CD titled Toru.
The title track is atrio for clarinet, cello and taonga puoro and features Waikato University research associate Dr Richard Nunns on the ancient instruments, Peter Scholes on clarinet and James Tennant on cello. Its 'New Zealandness' is clear, with sounds of bird calls, wind and sea. On other tracks there are hints of waiata, and a piano trio called Summer Music which reflects the sounds and sights of Rotorua and its geothermal activity.
Lodge has also used new technology on an old instrument.
"We took a harpsichord and stuck a microphone right inside. The harpsichord is not a complicated instrument, so we recorded all the bowing, scraping and rubbing noises that are always there, amplified them and then added them to the music being made from the keyboard."
Lodge requires his musicians to do more than follow a score. "In some pieces there is room to improvise because there's not much instruction. There may not be a time signature or key signature. In works that the musician is more like an actor - given a script and asked to bring their character to life.
"There's a lot of cross fermentation going on with music at the moment - music is getting harder to segment and with new technology there's a lot of opportunity to experiment."
Toru, chamber music by Martin Lodge is available from Marbecks.
