Reviews

"After working on the piece during the two day festival, the students and the audience were very receptive. I appreciate the Ivesian concept of layering ideas and the unpredictability of the sequencing of ideas as well. Textures, especially the more transparent, are welcome. The ending, with the tam-tam note, takes what promises to be a predictable gung-ho, and very conclusive, ending and gives it a marvelous irony (to my ear)." (Prof. Charles Peltz, New England Conservatory, March 3, 2002)

Chaconne

"The orchestra’s commitment to New Zealand Music continued with a performance of Christopher Marshall’s 1998 composition "Chaconne". This is a serene piece of great beauty that came off very well indeed." (Timothy Jones in The Christchurch Press, reviewing the Christchurch Youth Orchestra performance 25/5/99)

L’homme armé: Variations for Wind Ensemble

"The final concert presented by the Bolton Sinfonietta in the Opera Theatre of the Royal Northern College of Music continued the international theme with composers represented from four different countries… Christopher Marshall from New Zealand was present for the United Kingdom premiere of his recent work, L’Homme Armé. This is a captivating piece based on the fifteenth century melody of the same name. After a terrifically striking and strident opening, the bulk of the work is a set of variations that highlight certain similar compositional concerns between the present day composer and those of five hundred years ago. The frequent use of strict canons, melodies decorated with grace notes, and syncopated cross rhythms show the clear link between Marshall and his ancestors. There are many subtleties along the way, including a particularly florid and wistful duet for saxophone and piccolo. This excellent work, having travelled in time, deserves to travel further geographically as well. The performance under Timothy Reynish showed great sensitivity to the varied moods and colours."
(Adam Gorb, WASBE Newsletter, June 2004)
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"It is safe to say that L’Homme Arme was a stunning success for the National Concert Band of Canada. The metric modulations and other musical challenges provided just the right amount of challenge to the largely-university and advanced high-school players. And it was VERY well received by the young audiences who heard it. We played to about 3600 students and educators total. I plan to perform the work again this fall, with your permission, with the University of Calgary Symphonic Band….Thanks again for letting us use this wonderful piece….. (Dr. Mark Hopkins, University of Calgary, email message, 8 June 2004 3:37 AM <hopkinsm2000@yahoo.com)
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"Dear Mr. Marshall, I’m afraid that the concert in question was not reviewed by a critic. However, I myself attended (I was a violinist in the orchestra for fourteen years, but now work in the administration) and thoroughly enjoyed the concert, and specifically, ‘L ‘homme armé: Variations for Wind Ensemble’. Conductor Reynish..... did a marvellous job of introducing the piece (or rather “explaining” it), therefore making it so much more of a musical journey for the audience. The piece was beautiful, lyrical, melancholic at times, while at others, humorous. The audience was very enthusiastic, indeed. Kudos to you and to conductor Reynish. I hope we hear more from both of you." (Heidi Traedal, Administrative Assistant, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, email message, 17 January 2005 9:49 AM <post@kso.no>)
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"....We listened to your L'Homme areme Variations 10 times on the way to and back from Tanglewood.....That was delightful !.......I felt that the opening sound of siren could be replaced with a less attention-getting but gentler passage, but liked all other parts, including the siren at the end....The melody was lovely and beautiful and the rythm was fresh and envigorating. Some of the melodies, for whatever reason, reminded me of Dvorak's: (I hope you would not be offended) intimate and affectionate, with a touch of folk music. Some parts were so pretty and charming that they made me think of Traumerei ....My wife, Kitty, felt that the sirens were indicative of awakening new lives........The bottom line is that we both liked your composition very much, whether or not you would like or agree with what we felt. We found it beautiful and kept re-listening to it. I will look for more albums which contain your work. Thank you very much for opening our eyes (or ears) to your creation. Please keep up the good work." (Norm Ohtaka, email message, 12 July 2005 4:08:07 PM <ohtaka@att.net>)

O Fragile Human

"Sacred Kaleidoscope" was an apt title for the program that Frank Albinder and his 17-voice Woodley Ensemble brought Saturday to St Peter's Church on Capitol Hill. The five featured composers (from Canada, New Zealand, Indonesia, Sweden and Estonia) explore colors, rhythms and textures in very different ways, and their superposition was in fact kaleidoscopic in its effect.

There were three knockouts among Albinder's choices for his D.C.-based group. Christopher Marshall's five-part "O Fragile Human," written over the course of the last three years on texts drawn from St John of the Cross, the medieval composer Hildegard of Bingen and several contemporary poets, draws on a remarkably rich palette of colors and textures and handles them with astonishing restraint and delicacy. Even with the four vocal lines going their individual and busy ways, textures were transparent and balanced. Some of this was due to Marshall's sensitivity, but a lot was thanks to an ensemble that can produce sounds both rich and gloriously focused, that can field fine soloists but also a blend to die for, and that can move seamlessly from a brilliant fortissmo to an equally brilliant pianissimo almost instanteously....

The soloists, soprano Jolene Baxter and mezzo-soprano Marjorie Bunday, handled their assignments beautifully." (Joan Reinthaler, excerpt from her May 15 Washington Post review of May 13 World Premiere)
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"I am pleased to report that the first international airing here in Washington last Saturday evening of your composition ‘O Fragile Human’ was most successful. Led ably by Frank Albinder, the Woodley Ensemble did a marvellous job with the rich and complex textures and harmonies involved. Frank Albinder, in introducing your work to the audience at St Peter's Catholic Church, was clearly pleased to be associated with the world premiere of your work. Frank and the ensemble handled five component pieces expertly - I'm sure you would have been very pleased and proud. The work was very warmly received by the audience with sustained applause following its performance.... My wife, daughter and I were delighted to have the opportunity to attend this special occasion in Washington and to hear a distinctly NZ work being performed for the first time. " (Counsellor Peter Ferguson, New Zealand Embassy, Washington DC, May 13, 2006)

Resonance

"The premiere of your Resonance last night was a total success. It is quite an amazing piece. The Ithaca College Wind Ensemble under Tim played the piece brilliantly. I hope you get to hear it soon because I think you will be very pleased. The audience accepted the piece enthusiastically. I predict you will have many fine wind ensembles playing this piece in the very near future. Thank you for writing it and congratulations for a terrific contribution to the wind repertoire." (Prof. Mark Fonder, Ithaca School of Music, April 29)
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"Chris, it was a triumph and the two works go very well together as opposite views of your art. Resonance is quite beautiful, with some fascinating sounds and then that gorgeous hymn tune with its variants: really very special - and of course the magical ending." (Conductor Timothy Reynish, private letter, April 29)
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"The second half of the concert was conducted by Gerhard Markson, principal conductor of the RTÉ NSO who showed a greater sense of contral, and created a much more refined palette of sound form the young players. He was best rewarded in Resonance by Christopher Marshall. This is a delicately playful work which encompasses moments of Ivesian clamour, and evlolves into a chorale which is treated with ever more elaboration before dissolving into a whistled ending." (Dervan Ryan, Irish Times (Dublin), performance by the WASBE International Youth Wind Orchestra in Killarney, Ireland, July 17, 2007)

Three Aspects of Spring

"Music for violin, clarinet and piano is not particularly abundant, but the group responsible for most of what we have, the Verdehr Trio, gave a sparkling demonstration of the medium’s variety and color potential Sunday at the Phillips Collection. All five of the works played were composed for the trio in the past few years; all were excellent...."Three Aspects of Spring" (2002), by New Zealand composer Christopher Marshall, was happily melodious in its first and third movements and eerily evocative of vast open spaces in the middle movement, titled "Bushwalk" and featuring tiny motifs inspired by the calls of New Zealand birds……The Verdehr Trio played all this music as though it owned it -- as, in fact, it does." (Joseph McLellan, Washington Post, Tuesday, February 25, 2003)
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"The Verdehr Trio's Sunday evening concert at the Phillips Collection.....[presented] new pieces from Australia and New Zealand that were mostly engaging.....The highlight of the afternoon was New Zealand composer Christopher Marshall's "Three Aspects of Spring." Even in its quieter moments, the music was expressive, speaking in rich textures, confident gestures and quicksilver mood changes."(Daniel Ginsberg, Washington Post , Tuesday, October 31, 2006)