Fifth symphony

Composer John Psathas talks about the careful thought and cross-cultural collaboration that went into a work to be performed by the NZSO marking the fifth anniversary of the Christchurch mosque attacks.

- RICHARD BETTS

I don't know where I was when I heard. I can remember the earthquakes and 9/11, and even Chernobyl, but I don't know where I was when the news came through about the terrorist attack on AI Noor Mosque.

I remember the next day, though. We stopped to buy flowers and, looking around, we realised that everybody else had flowers, too. All of us drawn in silent, spontaneous community towards the nearby mosque, where strangers were receiving hugs and giving hugs and sharing tears. Laid carefully against a wall, all those flowers and candles, and maybe teddy bears, too.

But I can't remember the day of the murders and it bothers me: the victims deserve better.

New Zealand composer John Psathas remembers. He was in his studio, teaching a PhD student, when his wife phoned and asked if he'd heard. "I stopped the lesson and went inside," he recalls.

"It's one of those cornerstones in your life. You remember those moments." Yeah. Maybe.