Vanessa Lann - Wereldpremière
01/12/16 12:55 Filed in: wereldpremière
Stap verder is a commissioned piece for the David Kweksilber Big Band, whose members are equally at home making mind-blowing improvisations and performing cutting-edge contemporary notated music.
The African hocket technique of 'one player, one note' was the inspiration and structural basis for Stap verder. In the ensemble music of many African communities each instrument produces only one tone. Each musician is responsible for voicing that tone, and only that tone, using the unique sound and character of his or her instrument. This reflects how the role of the individual in these societies is perceived. The Ngumi proverb 'Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu' means that an individual "exists" only through contact with other persons in the community. Similarly, in this type of music (just as in Stap verder) a melody becomes discernable only when each player grows aware of the contribution of every other player. However simple, each person's musical gesture is significant.
Emma Lazarus' immortal text (engraved on the Statue of Liberty in NY, and used in this work) - "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses..." - also mirrors the belief that a society cannot successfully exist without recognizing the voice of even the smallest individual.
December 1, 2016 - 20.15
Jurriaanse Zaal, De Doelen, Rotterdam
RED SOFA SERIES, HOTEL KWEKSILBER
also on December 23, 2016 - 20.30
Bimhuis, Amsterdam
The African hocket technique of 'one player, one note' was the inspiration and structural basis for Stap verder. In the ensemble music of many African communities each instrument produces only one tone. Each musician is responsible for voicing that tone, and only that tone, using the unique sound and character of his or her instrument. This reflects how the role of the individual in these societies is perceived. The Ngumi proverb 'Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu' means that an individual "exists" only through contact with other persons in the community. Similarly, in this type of music (just as in Stap verder) a melody becomes discernable only when each player grows aware of the contribution of every other player. However simple, each person's musical gesture is significant.
Emma Lazarus' immortal text (engraved on the Statue of Liberty in NY, and used in this work) - "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses..." - also mirrors the belief that a society cannot successfully exist without recognizing the voice of even the smallest individual.
December 1, 2016 - 20.15
Jurriaanse Zaal, De Doelen, Rotterdam
RED SOFA SERIES, HOTEL KWEKSILBER
also on December 23, 2016 - 20.30
Bimhuis, Amsterdam
