A New Zealand Partita, mvt 1: Fantasia

Abstract

A frequent recital and concerto soloist in New Zealand, pianist Stephen De Pledge has received international plaudits for his “spring-loaded virtuosity” (Independent on Sunday, UK) and “abundant musicianship” (Independent, UK). These exhilarating qualities come to the fore in A New Zealand Partita. Commissioned especially for De Pledge, and premiered at the 2018 New Zealand Festival, seven New Zealand composers – Leonie Holmes, Chris Gendall, Chris Norton, Alex Taylor, Juliet Palmer, Celeste Oram and Helen Bowater – have written pieces inspired by JS Bach’s Partita no. 3 in A minor. In a series of fascinating three-way conversations between composers, pianist and Bach himself – the performance includes Bach’s original partita – we hear this 18th-century musical form reimagined for the 21st century.