Catalogue of Works

(4’)

First performance     
Date: October 18, 1972
Venue: Abel Smith Lecture Theatre, Queensland University
Flute: Janine Wenck
Clarinet: Stephen Kershaw
Piano: Tom Pommerel

(8')

I My Lizards (John Murphy, 10 yrs)
II Black Swan (Shirley Robson, 9 yrs)
III The Calf (Suzanne Dempster, 9 yrs)
IV The Koala's Prayer (John Bull, 11 yrs) 

A Cantata for Choir and Organ (12') 
In 1985 the title was changed to: From Babel to Pentecost

For tenor and piano (4 ') 
Poem by Craig Powell

First Performance     
Date: December 7, 1973
Venue: Recording Hall, Sydney Opera House
Tenor: Trevor Brown 

For tenor, narrator, actors, puppets and mixed ensemble (flute, trombone, percussion, cello) on a text by John McGuire (10') 

First Performance     
Date: December 7, 1973
Venue: Sydney Opera House Recording Hall

For solo double bass and four wind &/or brass players (7') 

First Performance     
Date: August 5,1974
Venue: Studio Concert III, Darmstadt
Double Bass: Fernando Grillo
Clarinet: Rolf Gelhaar
Didgeridoo: Moya Henderson
Flute: Christina Kubisch
Oboe: Davide Mosconi

Awarded First Prize in the Darmstadt: Kranichsteiner Musikpreis, 1974

For solo singer/actor (10') 

First Performance     
Date: March 6, 1975
Venue: Aula, Musikhochschule, Cologne, Germany
Performer: Richard Reiss 

For soprano and talking table (male voice) (10') 

First Performance     
Date: March 16, 1976
Venue: Aula, Musikhochschule, Cologne, Germany 
Soprano: Beth Griffith
Speaker: Michel Gonneville (Canadian composer)

Memorable performances in Australia by Jennifer McGregor and John McTiernan; John Bell (director) 1978

A music play for radio (40') 

First Broadcast: ABC National, February 22, 1978 

Commissioned by the ABC 

The play was awarded Honourable Mention by the Italia Prize jury

For solo clarinet (14') 

First performance     
Date: May 12, 1978
Venue: York Theatre, Seymour Centre, Sydney
Clarinet: John Anderson 

Commissioned by the Seymour Group 

For mixed ensemble (flute, clarinet, violin, viola) (20') 

First performance     
Date: 1980 for ABC Television Drama Series, 29 April, 1981
Violin: Jill Pereira
Cello: Anthea Scott-Mitchell
Flute: Geoffrey Collins
Clarinet: Alan Vivian

Episode titles, as follows:
Episode 01 – Menotti: Horses for Courses
Episode 02 – Menotti: The Church Mice
Episode 03 – Menotti: The Company They Keep
Episode 04 – Menotti: Friend or Foe
Episode 05 – Menotti: Far From Home
Episode 06 – Menotti: An Iron in the Fire
Episode 07 – Menotti: Mother Church
Episode 08 – Menotti: The Old Faith
Episode 09 – Menotti: One Way Conversation
Episode 10 – Menotti: Southern Exposure

For flute and bassoon (10’) 

For flute, trombone, percussion & piano (18’) 

First Public Performance     
Date: March 3, 1984
Venue: Toe Truck Theatre, Ultimo, Sydney 

Commissioned by Flederman 

For soprano and orchestra (25’)
 
I Night and Dreams 
II Song of the Housewives
III To Watch the River
IV Rhinestones
V Sick Song 
VI God

First performance     
Date: April 12, 1986 
Venue: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House
Orchestra: Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Soprano: Elizabeth Harwood
Conductor: Antonio De Almeida 

Commissioned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation 

For (mezzo) soprano and orchestra (25')
I Night and Dreams
II Song of the Housewives
III To Watch the River
IV Rhinestones
V Sick Song
VI God

First performance     
Date: April 12, 1986 
Venue: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House
Orchestra: Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Soprano: Elizabeth Harwood
Conductor: Antonio De Almeida 

Commissioned by the ABC

For a capella choir (10')

1 Woman's Song (Judith Wright) (originally written in 1971) Commercial Recording: (Tp:179)
2 O Joyous Child of Poverty (Mary Macken) Commercial Recording: Australia Sings A New Song, (Ancacd 1001)
3 Hodie Christus Natus Est (Anon)

Commissioned by David Kinsela for Macquarie University Choir Performed by various choirs

(Rarrk) (11')

First performance     
Date: December 7, 1984 
Venue: Concert of Women Composers, Cologne, Germany
Pianist: Herbert Henck 

For soprano, mezzo soprano and mixed ensemble (flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, viola, cello) (20') 

First performance     
Date: October 6, 1984
Venue: Seymour Centre, Sydney, 
Soprano: Donna Balson
Mezzo soprano: Meg Chilcott 
Other performers: The Seymour Group
Conductor: Myer Fredman

Commissioned by The Seymour Group Libretto for the opera, Chloe, written by composer 

For string orchestra (24’) 

I With Reverence
II Delicate and Subtle 
III Sometimes Vigorous and Fast
IV Utterly Sacred: In Honour of 40,000 Years

First performance     
Date: August 26, 1987
Venue: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House
Orchestra: Australian Chamber Orchestra

Commissioned by the Australian Chamber Orchestra 

Small Poppies A play by David Holman
Original music for the play by Moya Henderson
For string quartet and percussion (25')

I Pavane for the Little Boat Kids (Str quartet) 
II Sailor Song: A Round (voices and jaw harp)
III First Day at School Music (Str quartet)

First Performance    
Date: 1986
Venue: Adelaide Festival  

Commissioned by Magpie Theatre, South Australia

A cabaret song cycle for piano and baritone (32') Words by Moya Henderson  

Commissioned by Magpie Musicians 

Arranged for mezzo profondo, piano, trombone and percussion (32')

1 The Manly Monkey
2 Power Play 
3 Real Power 
4 A Money Problem 
5 Survival Waltz 
6 Run your Money through a 'Suer' 
7 What about a Goal in Life
8 What's the Time, Mr Wolf?
9 Nightmares 
10 The Tragedy 
11 The Wake 
12 Poppy 
13 At Last I'm Free
14 You and I 
15 The Casino 
16 From now on/Reprise of Real Power

First Performance     
Date: May 15 1987
Venue: Playwrights Conference, Arts Centre, ANU, Canberra 
Singer: Judi Connelli 
Conductor: Moya Henderson
Piano: Malcolm Tapscott
Trombone: Simone De Haan
Percussion: Darryl Pratt

For string quartet (11’) 

First performance     
Date: August 16 1991;
Location: Newcastle, NSW
Performer:s:    Auryn Quartet 

Commissioned by Petra String Quartet

For organ solo (16') 
Re-edited 2011

First Performance     
Date: 1989
Venue: The occasion of the Festschrift for Prof. Gordon Spearritt
Performer:    Robert Boughen 

And again on April 26, 1992, in the Great Hall University of Sydney by David Kinsela 

Duets for violin and piano (10’)
I Cushion Plants
II Stoppers
III Serenity Sound

Official premiere: Sydney Spring Festival 1993
 
Commissioned by John Carmody

For clarinet, piano viola and cello (6’ 23’‘) 

First performance     
Date: July 27, 1991
Venue: Nickson Room, University of Queensland

Commissioned by Perihelion, Queensland

http://moyahenderson.com/sites/moyahenderson.com/files/On%20and%20Off%20the%20Ground.mp3

This performance is by Leah Lock (flute), Debbie de Graaff (clarinet) & John Martin (piano). The work is only 6 minutes long. This take includes Debbie talking about another piece, G'day USA: Not Instantaneous or Merciful. I'll upload that piece sometime soon.

4th Movt of Piano: Trio, Waking up the Flies 
Arranged for flute, clarinet & piano
Arranged for violin, cello & piano

For orchestra  

Producer:  Tall Poppies 1992 
Orchestra: Australian Youth Orchestra
Conductor: Graham Abbott

Requested by Belinda Webster for her Christmas CD: CHRISTMAS UNDER CAPRICORN (TP016)

For soprano, cello and piano (30')

1 The First House 
2 Poppyshow 
3 Phantom and Fang 
4 The Flicks 
5 Twelve Mile Corroboree 
6 Les 
7 Burning Bridges 
8 Marriott Street Redfern
9 Beauties across the Street
10 Mummy, Mummy
11 PS
12 Clancy in Hospital
13 Gypsies
14 The Dream
15 Goodbye, Sydney

First Performance     
Date: October 15, 1992
Venue: Sydney Spring Festival, Eugene Goosens Hall, Sydney
Soprano: Helen Noonan
Cello: Julia Ryder
Piano: Lisa Moore 

Requested by Roger Woodward for the Sydney Spring Festival

For six voices: soprano 1, soprano 2, alto, tenor, baritone, bass 
Words by Dorothy Hewett 

Requested by Lorna Lander, on behalf of the Australian Music Centre 

For soprano and orchestra

First performance     
Date: October 24, 1995
Venue:  Melbourne Concert Hall
Orchestra: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Roderick Brydon
Soloist: Helen Noonan

Commissioned by the Mackellar Australia Remembers Committee (president, Bronwyn Bishop) 

For soprano and orchestra

First Performance     
Date: October 24, 1995 
Venue: Melbourne Concert Hall, 
Orchestra: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Roderick Brydon 
Soprano: Helen Noonan 

Commissioned by the Mackellar Australia Remembers Committee (president, Bronwyn Bishop)

A chamber opera for soloists and large instrumental ensemble 
Libretto: Judith Rodriguez and Moya Henderson 

First performance:    
Date: October 25, 2002
Venue: Opera Theatre of the Sydney Opera House
Company Opera Australia

A series of four performances

Commissioned by Opera Australia

(From Act III of Lindy) 
Arranged for viola and piano

First performance    
Date: 1997
Venue: Sydney University 
Viola:    Esther van Stralen 
Piano:    Bernadette Balkus 

Written for the Composing Women’s Festival 

For solo cello
Re-edited 2012

First performance:     
Date: September 11,1998
Venue: EGH ABC Studios, Sydney
Performer: Nicholas Bochner 

Commissioned by John Carmody with the financial assistance of the Australia Council 

This version of the 1973 piece was performed in The Studio at the Sydney Opera House on March 14, 1999 

For Soprano:  and Piccolo Trumpet

1 Who is that coming up from the Wilderness
2 Abide in my Love

Also as part of this work
Heart of Our God
Arrangement and some original composition

First performance    
Date: June 13 2000
Venue: St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney
Performer: Joan Carden

Commissioned by Kincoppal-Rose Bay for the Jubilee Mass of Thanksgiving

The Ordinary of the Mass is in English
For sopranos and alto choirs

1 Lord have mercy (Kyrie)
2 Glory to God (Gloria)
3 We believe (Credo)
4 Holy, holy, holy (Sanctus and Benedictus)
5 Our Father
6 Lamb of God (Agnus Dei)
7 Alleluia
8 Great Amen

First performance    
Date: June 13 2000
Venue: St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney
Soloist: Joan Carden

Commissioned by Kincoppal-Rose Bay for the Jubilee Mass of Thanksgiving

For solo French horn 

First performance    
Date: November 2003
Venue: Sydney Conservatorium of Music 
Performer: Carla Blackwood

Commissioned by John Carmody for Carla Blackwood’s graduation performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music 

An excerpt from I’d like to name them all by Name: the Anna Akhmatova Requiem, translated by Judith Hemschemeyer 

Written at the request of Roland Peelman for the SONG COMPANY for inclusion in their Good Friday music drama work called 14 

Piano: solo 

Written for the composer’s cousin, Naomi Killin

An excerpt from I’d like to name them all by Name: Anna Akhmatova’s Requiem translated by Judith Hemschemeyer 
Written for the Sydney Philharmonia Choir 

Piano: solo 

Written for the composer’s neice, Emily O’Brien

For SATB unaccompanied choir Poem by Emily Dickenson 

First performance:    
Date: February 16, 2008
Venue: Wedding of Anthony Crombie and Jane Marie White, Brisbane 

Commissioned by John and Diana Carmody for the wedding of their nephew, Anthony Crombie, to Jane Marie White

For voice and piano

For soprano, choirs, organ and orchestra

Translated by Judith Hemschemeyer

1.    No, not under the vault of alien skies, 
2.    In the terrible years of the Yezhov terror
3.    Mountains bow down to this grief
4.    That was when the ones who smiled
5.    They led you away at dawn
6.    Quietly flows the quiet Don
7.    No, it is not I
8.    You should have been shown, you mocker
9.    For seventeen months I’ve been crying out
10.    The light weeks will take flight
11.    And the stone word fell
12.    You will come in any case
13.    Now madness half shadows
14.    A choir of angels sang the praises
15.    I learned how faces fall
16.    Once more the day of remembrance draws near

First performance     
Date: March 31, 2010
Venue: SOH Concert Hall
Performing body: Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Orchestra
Soloist: Leanne Kenneally
Conductor: Brett Weymark

For two cellists and two music-theatre artists

First performance    
Date: November 30, 2010
Venue: Ensemble Offspring, ‘Sounds Absurd’ concert 
Actors and Musicians: Katia Moleno and Carlos Gomes, from Kantanka Theatre; also the cellists Geoff Gartner and John Addison 

This concert was to honour the great Musik-Theater composer (and my teacher), Mauricio Kagel (d 2008) 
Uploaded to YouTube

Commissioned by Ensemble Offspring

Organ solo

First performance    
Date: February 12, 2011
Venue: Our Lady of Mt Carmel, Middle Park, Victoria 
    
Composed for the Marriage of my nephew, James Moon to Julie Tramsak

For Soprano:  and Mezzo-Soprano:  and piano accompaniment, The poems in the cycle are Lovely How Lives and Or Just Miss

First performance    
Date: June 2, 2012
Venue: Sydney Grammar School, Small Wonders concert 

Commissioned by Halcyon and funded by the Australia Council

This work will be reset for small instrumental ensemble and will be premiered in its new configuration in 2013 to commemorate the 15th Anniversary of Halcyon (Alison Morgan and Jenny Duck-Chong)

For soprano voice and piano 
Songs 2, 3, 4 & 6 currently being arranged for piano accompaniment.

1 Night and Dreams 
5 Sick Song 

First performance
Date: February 15, 2013
Venue: Star of the Sea Church, Kirribilli, NSW
Quartet: Acacia
Treble voice: Naomi Killin

Written on the occasion of the wedding of the composer’s cousin, Elizabeth Henderson, to Warren Mundine Elizabeth’s 10 year old daughter, Naomi Killin, sang in the first performance

by Fay Zwicky

Look at the Moon is the 2nd song in the Gwen Harwood song cycle. The work is for 6 unaccompanied voices and has been performed by the Song Company, directed by Roland Peelman. There is also a recording for broadcast. However, I have recently revised the settings and hope to have the new version recorded commercially.