Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Chris Cree Brown’s angular and conversational ‘The Second Triumvirate’ follows a short work he wrote for NZTrio in 2009, called ‘The Triumvirate’. On this new work, Chris writes: “Originally, music emerged from speech; rhythms were shaped from vocal rhythmic patterns and melody was fashioned by the modulations and inflections of speech. The musical phrase can be considered a sentence, and the musical argument can be interpreted as an imaginary conversation between the various musical voices. One can imagine conversations or quarrels between the three musicians, all discussing various agendas. The title of these two works imagines each NZTrio musician as a member of a triumvirate perhaps attempting to dominate the remaining two members, or perhaps two of the triumvirate challenging the third.”
Performed by NZTrio: Amalia Hall (violin), Ashley Brown (cello) and Sarah Watkins (piano) in the Concert Chamber of the Auckland Town Hall, 19 May 2024.
Audio recorded by Tim Dodd and Adrian Hollay for RNZ Concert. Filmed and edited by Chris Watson for SOUNZ. Film funded by NZ On Air.
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Further information about the composer biographies associated with these films can be discovered at sounz.org.nz
Facebook: @SOUNZnz
Instagram: @sounz_nz
TikTok: @sounz_nz
#nzmusic
Chris Cree Brown’s angular and conversational ‘The Second Triumvirate’ follows a short work he wrote for NZTrio in 2009, called ‘The Triumvirate’. On this new work, Chris writes: “Originally, music emerged from speech; rhythms were shaped from vocal rhythmic patterns and melody was fashioned by the modulations and inflections of speech. The musical phrase can be considered a sentence, and the musical argument can be interpreted as an imaginary conversation between the various musical voices. One can imagine conversations or quarrels between the three musicians, all discussing various agendas. The title of these two works imagines each NZTrio musician as a member of a triumvirate perhaps attempting to dominate the remaining two members, or perhaps two of the triumvirate challenging the third.”
Performed by NZTrio: Amalia Hall (violin), Ashley Brown (cello) and Sarah Watkins (piano) in the Concert Chamber of the Auckland Town Hall, 19 May 2024.
Audio recorded by Tim Dodd and Adrian Hollay for RNZ Concert. Filmed and edited by Chris Watson for SOUNZ. Film funded by NZ On Air.
--
Further information about the composer biographies associated with these films can be discovered at sounz.org.nz
Facebook: @SOUNZnz
Instagram: @sounz_nz
TikTok: @sounz_nz
#nzmusic
