St Paul's Cathedral
Sunday, March 30
Patrons filled St Paul’s Cathedral on Sunday for Reimagining Mozart (2023), Robert Wiremu’s (Auckland) unique hour-long choral piece commissioned for Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir (Karen Grylls) and chamber ensemble.
Jono Palmer conducted.
Wiremu conceived Reimagining Mozart by blending memories of the 1979 Erebus tragedy with thematic material and passages from Mozart’s famous Requiem, imagining a hypothetical passenger had been listening to Requiem on a Sony Walkman, which continued to play on in Antarctica’s icy silence.
Scored for smaller venues, a vibraphone, two trios of violin, viola and cello facing each other, plus 18 voices worked perfectly.
The vibraphone’s metallic sound with percussive effects, or played with a double bass bow, produced incredible tone.
A karanga acknowledged Maoridom, and vocal or whistling bird calls from singers proceeding down the centre aisle opened the work, immediately setting an eerie atmosphere.
Spine-tingling glissandi and harmonic effects with beautiful overtones featured throughout as various groups of voices depicted agitation, panic and disorder, the crying of gulls, ominous silence or whispering Latin text. The work followed the form of a traditional mass, but with sections named "the Call", "Flight", "Descent", "Emptiness", "Farewell Completion", "Light" and "Dedication".
The full a capella choir Sanctus was strong and passionate and a sobbing effect with chromaticism interpreted the Lacrimosa. For the final Eleison and Marama (Light) choir members and musicians stood around the vibraphone, suggesting mourners encircling a coffin.
Space does not allow me to elaborate more fully on all the various sections, suffice to say that ingenious voicing, extreme dynamics, plus moments of silence created a cold remoteness with ghostly overtones in a beautiful musical representation of the tragic outcome of tourist flight TE901 to the southernmost mountain of the world.
Wiremu has crafted an outstanding programmatic work in memory of a great tragedy and, along with the large audience, this was a unique performance I will always remember.
