Sowetan Spring

I have for many years been fascinated by the music of the Dutch composer Louis Andriessen and especially by his handling of antiphonal hocketing effects. So much so that I have been tempted into writing a hocket of my own on a number of occasions. A hocket opens this work, Sowetan Spring, but the antiphonal separation is not a spatial one but based on timbral differences. Another difference is that this hocket is not the basis of a static minimalist process but develops through interaction with other materials into a more dramatic scenario.

This is a special BASBWE (British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles) Commission, to mark Glasgow’s designation as The Cultural Capital of Europe in 1990, with funds provided by BASBWE (Scotland). Sowetan Spring was written to commemorate the release from prison of Nelson Mandela in February 1990 and uses fragments of the South African people’s national anthem Nkosi Sikelel’ I Afrika.

James MacMillan

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