Clare Maclean (born 1958 on the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, at

Timaru Timaru (; mi, Te Tihi-o-Maru) is a port city in the southern Canterbury Region of New Zealand, located southwest of Christchurch and about northeast of Dunedin on the eastern Pacific coast of the South Island. The Timaru urban area is home to ...

) is a

composer. She received her formative musical training under Gillian Bibby at the

Wellington Polytechnic Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

. She then moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, where she studied

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

with

Peter Sculthorpe Peter Joshua Sculthorpe (29 April 1929 – 8 August 2014) was an Australian composer. Much of his music resulted from an interest in the music of countries neighboring Australia as well as from the impulse to bring together aspects of Aborigin ...

. Singing with the Sydney University Chamber Choir under the direction of

Nicholas Routley Nicholas Routley born 26 June 1947 is an Australian pianist, conductor, accompanist and composer, and the founding director of the Sydney Chamber Choir. Born in England, he was educated in Edinburgh and studied music at St John's College, Cambr ...

introduced her to the intricate Renaissance

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

that affected her early compositions.

Early compositions

In 1985 Maclean composed ''Christ the King'', a setting of New Zealand

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

James K. Baxter James Keir Baxter (29 June 1926 – 22 October 1972) was a New Zealand poet and playwright. He was also known as an activist for the preservation of Māori culture. He is one of New Zealand's most well-known and controversial literary figures. H ...

, which has received numerous performances in both Australia and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, as well as several recordings. Conceived as several interpolations for a performance of

John Taverner John Taverner ( – 18 October 1545) was an English composer and organist, regarded as one of the most important English composers of his era. He is best-known for ''Missa Gloria tibi Trinitas'' and ''The Western Wynde Mass'', and ''Missa Coro ...

's "

Westron Wynde ''Westron Wynde'' is an early 16th-century song whose tune was used as the basis (cantus firmus) of Masses by English composers John Taverner, Christopher Tye and John Sheppard. The tune first appears with words in a partbook of around 1530, cata ...

" Mass, the composer subsequently tied them together to create a single work that combines elements of

plainchant Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ''plain-chant''; la, cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text. ...

and

hymnody Robert Gerhard's Hymnody is a contemporary classical work from 1963, which was an assignment from BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got bef ...

with polyphonic passages. The composer's ingenious weaving and re-ordering of two Baxter poems, 'Song to the Father' and 'Song to the Lord God on a Spring Morning,’ was an early indication (in 1984) of her acute sensitivity to text, a trait that runs through all her subsequent works. In the same year, Maclean also revised four solo settings of Baxter’s verse. Over the next four years she composed two other major commissions for the Sydney Chamber Choir, "Et Misericordia" (1986) and "A West Irish Ballad" (1988). These three works formed the basis for a CD devoted entirely to her music, performed by the Sydney Chamber Choir and released in 1995 on the Tall Poppies label (TP 073).

Maturing style

During the 1990s Maclean continued to absorb and process a wide range of influences, from the

aleatoric Aleatoricism or aleatorism, the noun associated with the adjectival aleatory and aleatoric, is a term popularised by the musical composer Pierre Boulez, but also Witold Lutosławski and Franco Evangelisti, for compositions resulting from "action ...

effects in "Hope There Is" (1990), to the use of

folksong Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

and chant in ''Leise rieselt der Schnee'' (1996). Other significant works from this period include "Love Was His Meaning" (1992) and "We Welcome Summer" (1996). Music from this period reveals Maclean's growing use of repetitive, almost hypnotic phrases, as well as the overlaying of different rhythms and even text. Nowhere is this more apparent than the short piece, commissioned for the Sydney Children's Choir, titled "Rain" that comprises a series of

onomatopoeic Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...

syllables to suggest a rain shower. Since her early success Maclean has continued to write to commission, but her appeal has extended beyond her 'alma mater,’ the Sydney Chamber Choir that had evolved from its original association with the university. She has written for The Macquarie Singers, the Tasmanian Consort (1990), and

The Australian Voices The Australian Voices are a national choir of young adult Australian singers directed by John Rotar and produced by Scott Griffin. The choir is prominent promoters and performers of Australian choral music, commissioning a number of works in the ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

(1995). She wrote her 2002 setting of "Aunque Es De Noche" for the Sydney Philharmonia Chorus, and in 2003 she wrote "In The Year That King Uzziah Died" for the

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

-based vocal quartet, SYNTONY. More recently, her orchestral work "Panah" was selected as one of the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, per the New Zealand Sympho ...

's Readings in 2008, under the direction of conductor Scott Parkman. In an odd twist of coincidence, Parkman had previously served as Assistant Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (USA), a city that has hosted more Maclean performances and commissions than any other. This is explained by the relationship Clare Maclean has enjoyed with the

Saint Louis Chamber Chorus The Saint Louis Chamber Chorus is a large chamber choir, numbering 45 – 50 mixed voices, that presents seasons of six programs performed in St. Louis, Missouri, in venues of historic and/or architectural note. It generally performs without ins ...

, a professional

chamber choir A chamber choir is a small or medium-sized choir of roughly 8 to 40 singers (occasionally called 'chamber singers'), typically singing classical or religious music in a concert setting. (This is distinct from e.g. a church choir, which sings in rel ...

for which she has served as Composer-in-ResidenceChoral concert focuses on Fall Review: Collaborative performance is complex and impressive
/ref> since 2005. For this ensemble she composed first "Os Anthos Chortou: As the flowers of grass"– setting

Sappho Sappho (; el, Σαπφώ ''Sapphō'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; c. 630 – c. 570 BC) was an Archaic Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her Greek lyric, lyric poetry, written to be sung while ...

in the original

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

; then in 2007 "Misera ancor do Loco" (a conclusion in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...

's fragmentary sequence, " Lamento d'Arianna," 2007) and "Vive in Deo!" (a series of ancient Greek and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

epitaphs) and

Psalm 137 Psalm 137 is the 137th psalm of the Book of Psalms in the Tanakh. In English it is generally known as "By the rivers of Babylon", which is how its first words are translated in the King James Version of the Bible. Its Latin title is "Super flum ...

(in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, 2009). The St Louis Chamber Chorus has also recorded several of her works on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

. Future commissions for this choir include performances in November 2009 and December 2010. At the

APRA Music Awards of 2012 The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2012 (generally known as APRA Awards) are a series of related awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Art Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards of 2012 was the 30 ...

she won an Art Music Award in the category Work of the Year – Vocal or Choral for Osanna Mass.

Recordings

*Clare Maclean, the Complete choral music. The

Sydney Chamber Choir Sydney Chamber Choir is a choir from Sydney formed as the Sydney University Chamber Choir in 1975. Following its formation in 1975, the Sydney Chamber Choir quickly established itself as a champion of Renaissance Music, especially the works of J ...

, conducted by Nicholas Routley. Tall Poppies, Sydney, Australia, TP073, 1995 *Australia Sings a New Song (Hope There is, sung by the Sydney Chamber Choir, conducted by Nicholas Routley). Australian National Choral Association ANCACD1001, 1996 *The Listening Land (We Welcome Summer).

, conducted by Graeme Morton. Australian Voices, Brisbane, Australia, VOICESCD002, 1996 *Our Time and Place (Hope There Is). The St Peter's Chorale, conducted by Graeme Morton. The St Peter's Chorale, Brisbane, Australia, 1997 *Different Angels: Contemporary Australian Choir Music (Christ the King; Et Misericordia). The Adelaide Chamber Singers, conducted by Carl Crossin. The Adelaide Chamber Singers, Australia, ACSCD 002, 1998 *O Magnum Mysterium (Christ the King). The Adelaide Chamber Singers, conducted by Carl Crossin. The Adelaide Chamber Singers, Australia *One World, Many Voices (Hope There Is, sung by the Sydney Chamber Choir). Earthsongs, Corvallis, Oregon, CD 02, 1998 *One (Christ the King). Ensemble de la Rue, conducted by William Kempster. Arktos Recordings ltd, CD 20041, 2000 *Evensong from York Minster (Christ the King). The Brighton School Choir. Brighton School, Adelaide, Australia, 2000 *Rejoicing in His Birth (Leise Rieselt der Schnee). The St Louis Chamber Chorus, conducted by Philip Barnes. The St Louis Chamber Chorus, SLCC 007, 2003 *The Sydney Chamber Choir and Kampin Laulu Chamber Choir, Finland (We Welcome Summer). ABC Classic FM, Sydney, Australia, 2003 *Resonance: Contemporary Choral Music from Australia and the United States (Christ the King). University of New Hampshire Singers, conducted by William Kempster. University of New Hampshire Music Department, UNHCS 0104, 2004 *Songs of the Soul (Aunque es de Noche). The St Louis Chamber Chorus, conducted by Philip Barnes. Guild GmbH, Switzerland, GMCD 7272, 2005 *Jo-Wha (Oneness) (Kyrie, sung by the Sydney Chamber Choir, conducted by Paul Stanhope). Publications by Wirripang, Wollongong, Australia, 2006 *''Music for the Soul'' Lumina Vocal Ensemble conducted by Anna Pope (''Christ the King''), Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, LVE001 2007 *St. Louis Commissions (Os Anthos Chortou: As the flowers of grass). The St Louis Chamber Chorus, conducted by Philip Barnes. Regent Records, Great Britain, REGCD 255, 2008 *''Australian Soundscapes'' Lumina Vocal Ensemble conducted by Anna Pope (''Hope there is'' and ''Rain'') Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, LVE005, 2009 *Osanna (Osanna Mass, In the Year That King Uzziah Died, os anthos chortou, Vive in Deo, We Welcome Summer". Sydney Chamber Choir conducted by Paul Stanhope. Tall Poppies, Sydney Australia, TP218 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maclean, Clare 1958 births APRA Award winners Living people New Zealand musicians