Alistair M Vant ~ Composer
When my heart whispers to me,
in answer I write music…
I Write Music
Where there is life, there is music… As a composer, my clearest expressions are inspired by nature and being human.
Classically trained in violin and piano, with an early dive into jazz and improvisation; composing for ensembles, bands and orchestras is a natural forte. The possibility of sounds never heard before fuels an enthusiasm for audio technology and sound design, the balance to my apparently classical style.
Composition Showreel
To get a quick feel for my compositional style you can watch the showreel.
The works featured in this showreel are:
The Aliveness of Spring | Memory of a Friend | Promenade | A Dream of Mt Moehau | Danza Assertiva | Nature Awakening
Why I write music
For me, composing is about giving sound vibration to what is known in the deep spaces, the high places and the simple moments of life and being human. Music speaks without words, beyond the everyday.
When I’m composing, everything else drops away and I find a focus and innate enthusiasm from which the music just seems to arrive on the page. The creative decisions happen easily in a place beyond thought; it becomes a natural flow.
Quite simply, composing is my life’s work and while it has taken half a lifetime to realize that, now that I have, there’s nothing to do but write…
Featured works
The Aliveness of Spring
Inception: Sept 2024 Completion: Oct 2024
Instrumentation: String Ensemble
Recording: Digital rendition
Subtitled “New Beginnings and Poignant Memories”, this piece attempts to capture musically, the particular way that Spring feels as we suddenly know a touch of something bright and new shining thru the inner ‘clouds’ of winter.
The piece also comes from the newness and joy i was beginning to experience as i finished out my last few months at my office job to concentrate on composing. At the time i didn’t realise that i was writing the introduction to this new chapter of my life…
During the Spring in which i was writing this, Sonia and I visited Castle Hill in the Arthur’s Pass where it had just snowed, so there is a section in the piece which has this different feeling of the softness and silence of sun-touched snow.
Moehau is a forested mountain at the far Northern end of the Coromandel peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand where I lived from 2005 to 2006.
I never climbed this mountain as it is ‘tapu’ and very sacred to the Māori. This is actually palpable to many people when in the vicinity of the mountain; it seems cloaked in power and dark mystery.
In August 2024 I had a strong dream of this mountain, the music is a sonic exploration of the sense of the place. If you ever get the chance to go there, you can see if you think it matches.
Inception: Aug 2024 Completion: Jan 2025
Instrumentation: Piano & String Ensemble
Recording: Digital Rendition
This piece was written in memory of; and is dedicated to; AJ Hickling, a beautiful human being and extraordinary musician.
Both his way of being and his music were strong influences for me in my 20s.
I have fond memories of AJ coming to visit in his old green Bedford van when i lived off grid in the bush in the upper Coromandel, and laying down some violin tracks for his album. All done on solar power of course.
Later AJ became well known as ‘the piano busker’ in the Queenstown area, and the piano featured in the piece is evocative of his way of starting in a deceptively simple manner and evolving into complexity.
AJ was truly one of the good ones and he is sorely missed by a vast tribe of friends.
Inception: Dec 2023 Completion: Aug 2024
Instrumentation: Piano & String Ensemble
Recording: Digital rendition
Inception: Dec 2024 Completion: Jan 2025
Instrumentation: Solo Piano (virtuoso)
Recording: Digital rendition
This piece began as a simple sketch playing with 4 against 3 on my piano at home. Drawing inspiration from the piano writing of Liszt, Chopin, Debussy and Beethoven, the piece quickly developed beyond my own ability into the musical realm accessible only to the piano virtuoso.
The piece was completed over new years while camping next to the Wakamarina River. I always find being in nature increases the creative flow.
This digital rendition gives an idea, but lacks the thunderous dynamics and passionate expressiveness that I intend.
I am currently looking for the right pianist to premiere my Rhapsody… get in touch if it’s you!
“heartfully written music can convey the inner worlds of subtle experience in a way that words only dream of”