MUNRO, a short fanfare

Photo by Adrian Malloch

Burt Munro, what a bloody good kiwi. And what a bloody good character to write a piece about. So I did. As part of my APO Communities Composer position I put together MUNRO for this year’s APO Discovery Concert.

[The APO Discovery concert is a showcase of orchestral music for about 2,000 lucky secondary school students]

The piece was premiered today at the Auckland Town Hall by the Auckland Philharmonia, conducted by Tianyi Lu… the first day of NZ Music Month!

The facts…

Herbert James "Burt" Munro (Bert in his youth; 25 March 1899 – 6 January 1978) was a New Zealand motorcycle racer, famous for setting an under-1,000 cc world record, at Bonneville, 26 August 1967.^[2] This record still stands; Munro was 68 and was riding a 47-year-old machine when he set his last record.^[3]

Working from his home in Invercargill, he worked for 20 years to highly modify the 1920 Indian motorcycle that he had bought that same year. Munro set his first New Zealand speed record in 1938 and later set seven more. He travelled to compete at the Bonneville Salt Flats, attempting to set world speed records. During his ten visits to the salt flats, he set three speed records, one of which still stands.

Herbert James "Burt" Munro ( Bert in his youth; 25 March 1899 - 6 January 1978) was a New Zealand motorcycle racer, famous for setting an under-1,000 cc world record, at Bonneville, 26 August 1967. This record still stands; Munro was 68 and was riding a 47-year-old machine when he set his last record.

In short, he’s a typical kiwi guy expressing exorbitant amounts of ingenuity, determination and optimism.

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From the programme note…

“Musically, there is a relentless energy and a mechanical drive, with short rhythmic ideas constantly recurring, often interrupted by a strong jolt, but always returning. Metallic percussion plays a steady role as ideas establish but then often surprisingly move in different directions, as if Burt had the thought ‘Ah bugger, scrap that idea, I’ve got a better one’. As the piece draws to a close, there is finally a sense of cohesion, satisfaction and accomplishment.”

Photo by Adrian Malloch

Thanks to APO Connecting for commissioning this work, and to Tianyi and the players of the orchestra for giving such a committed performance.

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More info…

If you’re interested in some more reading on Burt, this is a great little article from a few years back:

Saved from a skip - the lost Burt Munro interviews.

And of course, I can’t get away without posting the trailer for Burt’s movie, ‘The World’s Fastest Indian’, featuring Anthony Hopkins…

Burt Munro images sourced from Stuff.co.nz.