"Passio: for Voices, Brass, Woodwind and Percussion (2006)" by Jack Body at the invitation of the Auckland Arts Festival 2017 with Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir

Abstract

"When Jack was drawn to Davy's Passio, which charts the drama of Christ from his betrayal in the garden of Gethsemane to his death following crucifixion, he realised both the quality of the choral writing, and that there was rather too much chanted material for the original Passio to appeal to a modern audience; however, adding 'commentaries' composed for voices, brass, woodwind and percussion could produce a powerful and dramatic experience. Collaboration was a very important process for Jack; in this instance he brought together the skills and talents of six composers associated with the New Zealand School of Music - the four staff composers Ross Harris, Lissa Meridan, Michael Norris and Jack himself, Emeritus Professor David Farquhar, and myself as the current CNZ/NZSM composer-in-residence. One evening we all went to look at the potential of the Great Hall in Massey University's Museum Building which has an astonishing reverberation period, then sat round and together devised the plan for the performance; the main group of performers would be centrally placed, there would be three additional groups spaced far apart surrounding the performance area and the audience would be free to walk around during the performance to experience the sound from different angles. Jack had divided the score into six tranches and we each chose one, and were free to complete the orchestration however we wished - there were no guidelines, except the request that the transition from one section to another should be discussed by the two composers involved. We also decided that, in the spirit of collaboration, the composers' contributions should not be identified, as the passion should be organic and seemingly through composed, rather than six disparate attributable compositions." Gillian Whitehead