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Kobus Malan (oboe) and Michael Blake (piano) perform Cameron Harris’s arrangement of Michael Moseou Moerane’s song Della
From left: Jill Richards, Joseph Abe & Cameron Harris relax after the performance
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On Sunday 2 November 2008, the Department of Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology presented a historic concert, Unisa Composes, in the ZK Matthews hall, with the help of generous sponsorship from SAMRO. Featuring six composers with Unisa associations in a programme of stimulating and attractive contemporary art music, the performances were enthusiastically received by an appreciative audience. The department hopes that this will be the first in a series of such concerts sponsored by SAMRO each year.
Michael Mosoeu Moerane (1909-1981), awarded a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of South Africa in 1941, was the first black South African to gain such a degree. In this concert, we heard instrumental arrangements of two songs, Della and Sylvia. Joseph Abe, currently a BMus student in the department, was represented by his new work Omo Mi (My Baby) --- Scene from West African lullaby (2008) for violin, oboe and guitar, which received its first performance.
Christopher James, a lecturer in the department for almost 20 years and who died in February this year following a prolonged period of ill health, was honoured with a performance of his Trio for violin, bassoon and piano. Christo Jankowitz, who is registered for a DMus in Composition at Wits, completed his BMus at Unisa in 2001. His Gnomisms, specially written for this occasion and also scored for violin, bassoon and piano, also received its first performance.
Michael Blake’s Leaf carrying song for oboe and guitar carries in its title a reference to the music of the pygmy communities in Central Africa. While making no direct reference to pygmy music, Blake has filtered and paraphrased African materials and compositional techniques in this piece. The memory of company by Cameron Harris is an exploration of solitude and the memory of company, the instruments acting together as a musical community. Both Blake and Harris are currently lecturers in the department. |
