Owhiro Bay in Wellington, New Zealand, looks out over one of the most dangerous and unpredictable stretches of water in the world; the name, in the Māori language, means "the place of the god of darkness". During my tenure as Composer-in-Residence with Chamber Music New Zealand I lived in a house overlooking the bay, and it was here that I composed this work, my first recognised string quartet. As the waters of Owhiro Bay change quickly from sparkling blues to deep grey-greens, from flat glass to churning boil, the responses of the observer also change. My own response are made manifest in the mood and character of the music, rather than in a depiction of the sea in any sort of impressionistic way.
