Leaf Carrying Song (1991)
for wind instrument in C and piano
Instrumentation: soprano birbynė or flute or oboe and piano or harpsichord or fortepiano
Revised 2002; transcribed 2009
African Journal No 13a
Dedicated to Simon Wynberg
Commissioned by the Arts Council of Great Britain
Publisher: Bardic Edition
Score and instrumental part BDE
Available from Goodmusic Publishing
Duration: 8'30"
Première
First performance (original version): 2 November 2008; ZK Matthews Hall, Pretoria; Kobus Malan oboe, Michal George guitar
Programme note
Leaf Carrying Song is something of a companion piece to the earlier Honey Gathering Song (1989; rev. 1999) for flute and piano. Simon Wynberg wanted a piece he could perform with his oboe (and flute) duo partners on both sides of the Atlantic; he also wanted a piece that exploited the sonority of the 10-string guitar. While I chose the oboe d’amore as the melody instrument for Leaf Carrying Song specifically because of its gentler overall sound and its dark lower register, the piece may be played on the standard oboe or even flute, just as the guitar part may be played on a standard 6-string guitar. The instruments are generally treated as equal partners.
Pieces with titles like Leaf Carrying Song (or Honey Gathering Song) can be found among the music of the pygmy communities in Central Africa. While I make use of African materials and compositional techniques, generally filtered or paraphrased, there is no direct reference to pygmy music in this piece. Although I wrote the work in 1991 it was never performed at the time; in 2002 I revised the work and the first performance eventually took place on 2 November 2008 in the ZK Matthews Hall, Pretoria, with Kobus Malan (oboe) and Michal George (guitar). Darius Klišys asked me to arrange the piece for soprano birbynė and keyboard in 2009 and for soprano birbynė and string trio in 2016.
for wind instrument in C and piano
Instrumentation: soprano birbynė or flute or oboe and piano or harpsichord or fortepiano
Revised 2002; transcribed 2009
African Journal No 13a
Dedicated to Simon Wynberg
Commissioned by the Arts Council of Great Britain
Publisher: Bardic Edition
Score and instrumental part BDE
Available from Goodmusic Publishing
Duration: 8'30"
Première
First performance (original version): 2 November 2008; ZK Matthews Hall, Pretoria; Kobus Malan oboe, Michal George guitar
Programme note
Leaf Carrying Song is something of a companion piece to the earlier Honey Gathering Song (1989; rev. 1999) for flute and piano. Simon Wynberg wanted a piece he could perform with his oboe (and flute) duo partners on both sides of the Atlantic; he also wanted a piece that exploited the sonority of the 10-string guitar. While I chose the oboe d’amore as the melody instrument for Leaf Carrying Song specifically because of its gentler overall sound and its dark lower register, the piece may be played on the standard oboe or even flute, just as the guitar part may be played on a standard 6-string guitar. The instruments are generally treated as equal partners.
Pieces with titles like Leaf Carrying Song (or Honey Gathering Song) can be found among the music of the pygmy communities in Central Africa. While I make use of African materials and compositional techniques, generally filtered or paraphrased, there is no direct reference to pygmy music in this piece. Although I wrote the work in 1991 it was never performed at the time; in 2002 I revised the work and the first performance eventually took place on 2 November 2008 in the ZK Matthews Hall, Pretoria, with Kobus Malan (oboe) and Michal George (guitar). Darius Klišys asked me to arrange the piece for soprano birbynė and keyboard in 2009 and for soprano birbynė and string trio in 2016.
