David Griffiths (composer)
Encyclopedia
David Griffiths is a composer, baritone and convener of the Conservatorium of Music at the University of Waikato
University of Waikato
The University of Waikato is located in Hamilton and Tauranga, New Zealand, and was established in 1964. It has strengths across a broad range of subject areas, particularly its degrees in Computer Science and in Management...

. Griffiths has gained national and international recognition as a composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, opera singer and recital
Recital
A recital is a musical performance. It can highlight a single performer, sometimes accompanied by piano, or a performance of the works of a single composer.The invention of the solo piano recital has been attributed to Franz Liszt....

 soloist. His choral compositions are particularly popular in the United States of America and have, in recent years, been recorded by several choirs while many works have been included on various record labels including Naxos Records
Naxos Records
Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...

, Kiwi Pacific and Atoll.

Griffiths has performed as a soloist
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

 with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is the national orchestra of New Zealand. It is a crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, with 90 full-time players....

, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra was established in the early 1980s and has become one of New Zealand's major performing organisations. The instigation of its Composer-in-Residence programme in 1990 has made the orchestra an important force in the promotion of New Zealand composed...

, all major choral societies in New Zealand and regularly with NBR New Zealand Opera. He has also performed as a recital soloist, representing New Zealand in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

, the USA, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.

Griffiths works as a freelance composer and is fully represented by SouNZ Aotearoa, the Center for New Zealand Music. He has held positions of lecturer and senior lecturer in voice at universities throughout New Zealand and as such has trained singers who have gone on to perform with distinguished companies such as the Cologne Opera
Cologne Opera
The Cologne Opera refers both to the main opera house in Cologne, Germany and to its resident opera company.-History of the company:...

 and The Bayreuth Chorus.

Biography

David Griffiths was born 1950 in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

, and completed his schooling at Westlake Boys High School. He graduated in 1971 from the University of Auckland
University of Auckland
The University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...

 with a Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music
Bachelor of Music is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree; the majority of work consists of prescribed music courses and study in applied music, usually requiring a...

 and studied composition at the Guildhall School of Music in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in 1972. Griffiths was awarded a Master of Music
Master of Music
The Master of Music is the first graduate degree in Music awarded by universities and music conservatories. The M.Mus. combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization with graduate-level academic study in subjects such as music history, music theory, or music pedagogy...

 degree (1st class honors) in composition in 1973. Since that time he has worked as a freelance composer, operatic and recital singer and lecturer in voice, based primarily in Auckland. He returned to the UK and Europe, after the completion of the MMus, where he was a member of various ensembles including the BBC Singers
BBC Singers
The BBC Singers are the professional chamber choir of the BBC. As one of six BBC Performing Groups, the 24-voiced choir has been in existence for more than 80 years. The BBC Singers have commissioned and premiered works by the leading composers of the past century, including Benjamin Britten, Sir...

.

Griffiths, on his return to New Zealand, won both of New Zealand's premier operatic competitions, the NZ Herald Aria (currently the New Zealand Aria) and the 1983 Mobil Song Quest (currently the Lexus Song Quest
Lexus Song Quest
The Lexus Song Quest is a competition held each year in New Zealand since 1956. The competition is managed and presented by the New Zealand International Arts Festival. Originally, it featured contestants who perform a variety of singing, e.g., Country and Western, Pop and Classical...

). He has held appointments as Lecturer of Voice and Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland through much of his career except from 1986 until 1992 where he held the same at the University of Otago
University of Otago
The University of Otago in Dunedin is New Zealand's oldest university with over 22,000 students enrolled during 2010.The university has New Zealand's highest average research quality and in New Zealand is second only to the University of Auckland in the number of A rated academic researchers it...

 and since his appointment at the University of Waikato. He is the current convener of the Conservatorium of Music at the University of Waikato
University of Waikato
The University of Waikato is located in Hamilton and Tauranga, New Zealand, and was established in 1964. It has strengths across a broad range of subject areas, particularly its degrees in Computer Science and in Management...

, Hamilton
Hamilton, New Zealand
Hamilton is the centre of New Zealand's fourth largest urban area, and Hamilton City is the country's fourth largest territorial authority. Hamilton is in the Waikato Region of the North Island, approximately south of Auckland...

 and senior lecturer of voice. In 2006, Griffiths became a founding member of the New Zealand Chamber Soloists
New Zealand Chamber Soloists
The New Zealand Chamber Soloists , are a New Zealand based chamber music ensemble. The NZCS consists of prominent concerto soloists with national and international careers and extensive chamber music experience...

 with whom he has worked in a capacity as both composer and singer.

Composing

Griffiths is recognised as one of New Zealand's leading composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

s and as such is fully represented by SouNZ Aotearoa, the Centre for New Zealand Music. SouNZ has on record eighty-six published works by Griffiths including choral music, song cycles, songs, opera, piano music and chamber music for a variety of instruments. He has written commissions for numerous musicians and groups including the Karlheinz Company
Karlheinz Company
The Karlheinz Company is a music ensemble based at the University of Auckland School of Music. The ensemble was founded by composer, John Rimmer and the first programme included works by Berio, Stockhausen and Rimmer...

 and the New Zealand Chamber Soloists
New Zealand Chamber Soloists
The New Zealand Chamber Soloists , are a New Zealand based chamber music ensemble. The NZCS consists of prominent concerto soloists with national and international careers and extensive chamber music experience...

 and has received official support for compositional projects through Creative New Zealand
Creative New Zealand
The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government, investing in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes and developing markets and audiences for New Zealand arts domestically and internationally...

.

Griffiths has gained a particular reputation as a choral composer with choral works being performed by choirs around the world and several recordings made by choirs in the United States of America. The "Te Deum Laudamus" was commissioned by award winning,Seattle based vocal ensemble, Opus 7 for their 10th anniversary celebrations in 2002. Other notable works include, "The Servant", for choir, soloist and two string quartets and operas, "The Woman from Moab", based on the biblical book of Ruth and "The White Lady".

Griffiths frequently draws on existing texts for his songs. Many of these have been of an original New Zealand setting, such as "Six Watercolours". This work, originally commissioned by John Rimmer, consists of six art songs with poetry inspired by the paintings of Doris Lusk. They describe some of the untouched landscapes along the New Zealand coast. Other texts are drawn from original traditional Latin liturgical texts and a variety of sources as exhibited in the collected CD of his early art songs, "Charms and Knots".

Performing

Griffiths has performed frequently with New Zealand Opera, all major choral societies in New Zealand, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra was established in the early 1980s and has become one of New Zealand's major performing organisations. The instigation of its Composer-in-Residence programme in 1990 has made the orchestra an important force in the promotion of New Zealand composed...

 and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is the national orchestra of New Zealand. It is a crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, with 90 full-time players....

. He performs an extensive baritone repertoire of opera and oratorio and recital tours have taken him to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 the USA and Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

.

His operatic repertoire has included La Traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...

, Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...

, The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....

, Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...

, Gianni Schicchi
Gianni Schicchi
Gianni Schicchi is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy. The work is the third and final part of Puccini's Il trittico —three one-act operas with...

, Salome
Salome
Salome , the Daughter of Herodias , is known from the New Testament...

, Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier
Der Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac...

, Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The librettist Giovanni Ruffini wrote the Italian language libretto after Angelo Anelli's libretto for Stefano Pavesi's Ser Marcantonio ....

, The Pearl Fishers, Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...

, Cenerentola, Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...

, Julius Ceasar, Cosi fan Tutte
Così fan tutte
Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte....

, Zaida
Zaida
Zaida is a town in Swabi District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. It has been the centre of Aba Khel subtribe of Mandanr Yusafzai along with Hund. Also see Zaida, NWFP...

 and Galileo. As a concert soloist, Griffiths has performed all the major works of J S Bach, "War Requiem" by Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...

, Elgar's "The Dream of Gerontius", "Elijah" by Felix Mendelsohn, "The Light in the Wilderness" by Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...

, Monteverdi's "Solemn Vespers", Vaughan Williams' "Five Mystical Songs", The Messiah by Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....

 and Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana , Latin for "Songs from Beuern" , is the name given to a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces were written principally in Medieval Latin; a few in Middle High German, and some with traces...

 by Carl Orff
Carl Orff
Carl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...

.

Griffiths has also premiered numerous New Zealand works such as "Orpheus in Rarohenga" by John Psathas
John Psathas
John Psathas is a New Zealand composer, son of Greek immigrant parents.He has works in the repertoire of such high profile musicians as Evelyn Glennie, Michael Houstoun, Michael Brecker and the New Juilliard Ensemble, and is one of New Zealand's most frequently performed composers...

 with the NZSO and performed with well known New Zealand singers such as Sir Donald McIntyre
Donald McIntyre
This page is about the singer. For others of similar name see Donald MacIntyreSir Donald McIntyre, CBE is a celebrated operatic bass-baritone. He made his formal debut as Zaccaria in Nabucco, at the Welsh National Opera, in 1959...

, Malvina Major
Malvina Major
Dame Malvina Lorraine Major, GNZM, DBE is a New Zealand opera singer. She was born in Hamilton, New Zealand into a large musical family. As a child she performed at various concerts, singing mainly country and western pop and music from the shows. She received her first classical training in 1955,...

, Anna Leese
Anna Leese
Anna Leese is a New Zealand born soprano opera singer. She made her debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in 2006, as understudy for the part of Musetta in Giacomo Puccini's La bohème...

 and Helen Medlyn.

Recording

Griffiths has recorded much of the English, German and French Art Song repertoire
Repertoire
Repertoire may mean repertory, a system of theatrical production and performance scheduling, but may also refer to:* Musical repertoire* Repertoire Records, a German record label specialising in 1960s and 1970s pop and rock reissues...

 for Concert FM
Concert FM
Radio New Zealand Concert is a publicly-funded non-commercial New Zealand FM radio network owned by Radio New Zealand, which broadcasts classical and jazz music, as well as regular news updates from Radio New Zealand News....

 as well as a significant body of New Zealand music. CD recordings as a soloist have included works such as "Prodigal Country" with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra under the direction of the late Sir Charles Groves
Charles Groves
Sir Charles Barnard Groves CBE was an English conductor. He was known for the breadth of his repertoire and for encouraging contemporary composers and young conductors....

 and the "Five Mystical Songs" under Karen Grylls, director of the Dorian Choir and songs by with David Farquhar (composer)
David Farquhar (composer)
David Andress Farquhar was born in Cambridge, New Zealand in 1928 but spent most of his early years in Fiji.He was educated in New Zealand and began his university studies in Christchurch before completing his degree at Victoria University of Wellington where he studied with Douglas Lilburn...

.

"Ahi" a CD collaboration between the Ogen Trio and the New Zealand Chamber Soloists
New Zealand Chamber Soloists
The New Zealand Chamber Soloists , are a New Zealand based chamber music ensemble. The NZCS consists of prominent concerto soloists with national and international careers and extensive chamber music experience...

 featured works by Griffiths and four other leading New Zealand composers, Michael Williams, Gareth Farr
Gareth Farr
Gareth Vincent Farr ONZM is a New Zealand composer and percussionist. He has released a number of classical CDs and composed a number of works performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Royal New Zealand Ballet...

, Martin Lodge and John Psathas
John Psathas
John Psathas is a New Zealand composer, son of Greek immigrant parents.He has works in the repertoire of such high profile musicians as Evelyn Glennie, Michael Houstoun, Michael Brecker and the New Juilliard Ensemble, and is one of New Zealand's most frequently performed composers...

. Griffiths has recorded CDs and DVDs for Naxos Records
Naxos Records
Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...

 including "Missa Solemnis, Te Deum" with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Tower Voices NZNaxos Records
Naxos Records
Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...

 as well as Kiwi Pacific Records, Herald Record Label and Ode Records.

Teaching

Griffiths has held positions of Lecturer of Voice and Senior Lecturer of voice at the University of Auckland
University of Auckland
The University of Auckland is a university located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest university in the country and the highest ranked in the 2011 QS World University Rankings, having been ranked worldwide...

, University of Otago
University of Otago
The University of Otago in Dunedin is New Zealand's oldest university with over 22,000 students enrolled during 2010.The university has New Zealand's highest average research quality and in New Zealand is second only to the University of Auckland in the number of A rated academic researchers it...

 and University of Waikato
University of Waikato
The University of Waikato is located in Hamilton and Tauranga, New Zealand, and was established in 1964. It has strengths across a broad range of subject areas, particularly its degrees in Computer Science and in Management...

. He is the current convener of the Conservatorium of Music, University of Waikato.

Selected Works

A more complete list of works can be found at SouNZ Centre for New Zealand Music
  • Beata Virgo for 12 part (SSSAAATTTBBB) choir

  • Cosmic Praise for SATB choir and SATB soloists

  • Dormi Jesu for SATB choir

  • Five Landscapes for SATB choir

  • Five Love Songs for tenor and piano

  • Four Tudor Anthems for SATB choir

  • Lie Deep, My Love a cycle of three settings of poems by James K. Baxter for SATB choir and soloists

  • Salve Regina for double SATB choir

  • Six Legs or More for piano

  • Sonata for horn and piano

  • Sonata in C for piano

  • St Barnabas Liturgy Parish Communion setting

  • Stabat Mater for SATB choir and organ

  • Sun Shower and other pieces for piano

  • Three Canons for piano

  • Three Franks Opera

  • The White Lady Opera

  • Mary Muller – The Secret Suffragette Opera

  • Walls of Troy Opera

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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