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Exemplar for internal assessment resource Music for Achievement Standard 91423
Conception
Gareth Farr composed ‘Te Papa’ as a fanfare for the official opening ceremony of our
national museum, Te Papa Tongarewa in 1998. The work is written for classical orchestra,
along with a number of unusual world percussion instruments, as well as three singers
(including Maori karanga). It has fanfare-like themes but it very different to most fanfares
which are typically short and use brass to the forefront.
In the context of an opening ceremony we would expect the music to be powerful, exciting
and to complement the situation. Farr does all of this in ‘Te Papa’, particularly with his use of
compositional devices and the multi-cultural aspects to the music.
Throughout Te Papa we can see many examples of compositional devices that Farr has
used to create the work. Firstly, he uses a variety of textures to create interest and contrast
in the piece. He ranges from sparse textures with very few instruments to thick, dense
sections where the entire orchestra plays different melodies – the majority of the piece is
polyphonic.
We can see the sparse texture in the first bars, which open with the cello, double bass and
tuba playing deep, held notes. Farr introduces his unique world percussion instruments right
from the start; the flexatone, crotales, maracas and quica are all used in the opening section
to create interest. The karanga opens singing the first words of the poem, ‘Charm’, in te reo
Māori, forming the main melody, and alternates through the A section with the flute and
clarinet, in a call and response pattern. At this stage, a number of instruments are playing,
including the full strings, horns, trombones and harp but their quiet tone and lack of melody
makes the texture seem thin. By the B section, the percussion section has thinned out, with
only the crotales, quica and suspended cymbal playing occasionally. The karanga also
ceases to be heard. At the beginning of Section C, the texture changes again to create
interest.
Farr also has a very interesting use of structure in ‘Te Papa’, by comparing a typical 20th
century orchestral work to Farr’s work we can see the differences stylistically of Farr’s
structuring. An orchestral work of the 1800 -1900’s such as a symphony, would generally be
in sonata form. However, ‘Te Papa’, an orchestral work, has no real structure, in fact, it is
completely asymmetrical and almost random.
The use of melodies in Te Papa also shows the complex conception of the work. The
opening melody is established in the flute and clarinet at bar 9. There is some variation
through Section A, but the real interest begins to be added at the B section, where Farr firstly
transposes the melody in to the dominant and then exercises call and response between the
flute and clarinet I, against the flute and clarinet II, which plays a slight variation. Section C
uses canon between the various woodwind and brass instruments. The karanga calls
throughout the final section with her unwritten melody to complement the written melodies for
the orchestra.
© NZQA 2015
Exemplar for internal assessment resource Music for Achievement Standard 91423
Farr uses a traditional Maori karanga at the beginning of the piece as the context is similar to
a powhiri. Traditionally, a woman calls the karanga, and it acts as a call and response
between the caller and the group she is welcoming onto the marae. The kaikaranga speaks
in Maori, and traditionally calls about the history of the tribe. Proverbs and the purpose of the
gathering are also mentioned. While the words of a karanga are decided before calling, the
rhythm and melody used are improvised, meaning no two karanga are exactly the same.
While Farr keeps some of these traditional aspects in the karanga in Te Papa, he also
changes some of them. The most obvious of which is the context in which the karanga sings.
It is a welcoming, but not in the traditional sense – it is a welcome to the building and the
history which it will contain and preserve. The kaikaranga’s words are all in Maori, which
show continuity with tradition, but the words she speaks do not tell of a tribe, but are rather a
translation of the 19th century poem ‘Charm’, written by an anonymous author:
I arrive where an unknown earth is under my feet
I arrive where a new sky is above me
I arrive at this land
A resting place for me
O spirit of the Earth! The stranger bumbly offers his heart
As food for thee
This fits in with the context of the piece, of recalling the origins of the land and our duty to
worship it, but in doing this differs from a tradition karanga. There is no tribe to speak of and
the ‘purpose’ of the gathering is not made clear, There is no responding karanga, but the
flute’s melody is dispersed between the karanga call, acting as an instrumental response
(bars 7-15).
Using Cook Island drumming to maintain the beat and also offer an unusual percussion base
for the piece is also very important in the conception of ‘Te Papa’. As Farr is a percussionist,
he is able to reveal his knowledge of and admiration for the techniques and instruments used
in world music.
When considering that Te Papa is a museum designed to preserve the history of New
Zealand, it only makes sense that Farr would include such an unusual array of instruments
and the native tongue of our nation, in the conception of his piece.
© NZQA 2015