Ngana (SSAA)

Ngana (from Songs of Passage) by Australian composer Stephen Leek strikingly captures the driving energies, rhythms and vivid colours of the island seascape that is to be found around the north-eastern tip of Australia. Constructed of simple canonic figurations and ostinatos, Ngana uses as its source an indigenous Australian text which calls to the shark (ngana) and the fish (mangana) and welcomes (yah) them to the translucent blue waters (lina) around the reef. Ngana is the first of five Songs of Passage, each named after a traditional Australian place. These pieces project the choral colours and texture for which Leek has become renowned. Songs of Passage was commissioned in 1994 by the St. Peters Chorale, Brisbane, Australia and its Director, Graeme Morton. Ngana is part of The Australian Voices Series published by Morton Music.