Jenny McLeod facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jenny McLeod ONZM
McLeod in 2009
Born	(1941-11-12)12 November 1941 Wellington, New Zealand
Died	28 November 2022(2022-11-28) (aged 81) Palmerston North, New Zealand
Occupation	Composer
Alma mater	Victoria University of Wellington
Notable works	Earth and Sky (1968) Under the Sun (1971) The Emperor and the Nightingale (1986) Hōhepa (2012)

Jennifer Helen McLeod (12 November 1941 – 28 November 2022) was a famous New Zealand composer. She was also a music professor at Victoria University of Wellington. Jenny McLeod wrote many big musical pieces. These include Under the Sun, which was for four orchestras and 450 children. She also wrote the opera Hōhepa.

Jenny McLeod's Life Story

Jenny McLeod was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on 12 November 1941. She grew up in Timaru and Levin. Jenny loved music from a young age and could read music by the time she was five.

In 1961, she started studying music at Victoria University of Wellington. Her teachers were well-known musicians like Frederick Page and Douglas Lilburn. She earned her Bachelor of Music degree in 1964.

After university, Jenny received a special scholarship from the New Zealand government. This allowed her to study music in Europe for two years. She learned from famous composers like Messiaen and Stockhausen.

In 1967, she became a music lecturer at Victoria University. By 1971, she was made a Professor, which was a big achievement for someone so young. She held this important role until 1976. During this time, she became interested in the Divine Light Mission. This led her to retire early from her university job to focus on other interests.

In 1997, Jenny McLeod was given a special award. She was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit. This award was for her amazing contributions to music in New Zealand.

Jenny McLeod is most famous for her large-scale works, Earth and Sky and Under the Sun. She also wrote many songs and hymns. She really admired the music of Messiaen, and his style influenced her own work. Before she passed away in Palmerston North in 2022, at age 81, Jenny lived in Pukerua Bay. She spent her time working on music theory, especially how notes and scales fit together.

Understanding Tone-Clock Theory

In the mid-1980s, Jenny McLeod discovered something called the Tone Clock. This was a way of composing music developed by a Dutch composer named Peter Schat. It was a new method for using all 12 notes in music.

Jenny McLeod took this idea and made it even bigger. She created a detailed system for understanding all the ways musical notes can be combined. Her work helped to organize and explain the many possibilities in music. She wrote about her ideas in an unpublished book called Tone Clock Theory Expanded: Chromatic Maps I & II. This book explains her theory and how different note combinations work.

Jenny McLeod's Major Musical Works

Here are some of Jenny McLeod's most important compositions:

Jenny McLeod at home in Pukerua Bay, 2009

Earth and Sky

Earth and Sky is a huge musical piece for choirs and an orchestra. Many children were part of the choirs. This work tells the story of the Māori creation myth. It describes how the Earth Mother, Papa-Tū-ā-Nuku, and the Sky Father, Ranginui, were separated.

The music uses many parts where different voices sing on their own. It was first performed in Masterton in 1968. Even though it hasn't been performed many times, it's seen as a very important work in New Zealand music. This is because it's so big, uses local stories, and was very experimental for its time. A special performance was recorded in Auckland in 1971.

Under the Sun

The city of Palmerston North asked Jenny McLeod to write Under the Sun to celebrate its 100th birthday. It was performed six times in May 1971. This piece tells the story of the Sun, from the Earth's beginning to when the Sun eventually cools down.

It was a massive show! It had four orchestras, a five-person rock band, two adult choirs, and four "floor choirs" of 440 children. The children also acted and danced. Each group had its own conductor. Jenny McLeod herself helped coordinate everyone by recording her voice counting beats on a tape. The audience was even invited to dance at the end of one part!

This huge show involved 1000 people and took two years to prepare. Children from 16 schools created 2000 paintings. Seventy of these paintings were chosen to be shown on big screens during the performance.

The Emperor and the Nightingale

This piece was created in 1985 for the Wellington Regional Orchestra. It was for a family concert in 1986. The Emperor and the Nightingale has been performed by many orchestras in New Zealand since then.

Jenny McLeod based the story on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, The Nightingale. She changed the words herself to fit the music.

Rock Concerto

The Rock Concerto started as a piano piece in 1986. It was very challenging to play, like music by the famous composer Liszt. Jenny McLeod wrote it for a talented young pianist named Eugene Albulescu.

In 2009, she turned it into a piano concerto. This means it's a piece for a piano soloist and an orchestra. The music has strong classical roots but also uses modern rock rhythms. The first two parts of the concerto are in a classical form called sonata form. The last part is a lively rondo-sonata, with a fun, dance-like theme. Each part can also be played on its own.

The second part of the concerto is dedicated to a friend of Jenny's named Charlie French. He was an Australian Aboriginal activist who lived with her for a while.

Hōhepa

Hōhepa

Jenny McLeod's opera Hōhepa had its first performance at the New Zealand International Arts Festival in 2012. An opera is a play where most of the words are sung.

This opera is based on a true story from the 1800s. It tells about a Māori chief named Hōhepa Te Umuroa and a British settler named Thomas Mason. Their story happened during the Land Wars in New Zealand, which were conflicts over land. Jenny McLeod worked on this opera for 15 years. It was requested by Matiu Mareikura from the Ngāti Rangi iwi (tribe).

Songs and Hymns

Jenny McLeod wrote several songs for a big event called the Sun Festival in Oriental Bay, Wellington Harbour, in 1983. These songs were performed by 1,000 children and the Bach Choir. It was one of her biggest choral projects. Each song was based on a different colour. One song, Indigo II ("Light of Lights"), is still performed today.

She also wrote many Māori hymns. These were for the yearly choral competitions called Katorika Hui Aranga, held in the Whanganui region during Easter.

Publications

• Music in New Zealand Spring 1992 / number 18
• Music in New Zealand Summer 1998–99 / number 34
• Tone Clock Theory Expanded: Chromatic Maps I & II