Ntsikana's Bell (2015)
for solo piano
Afrikosmos Volume 1: No 13
Dedicated to Athol Fugard and Paula Fourie
Composed 6 July 2015, Villa Serbelloni, Bellagio
Publisher: Bardic Edition
Available from Goodmusic Publishing
Score BDE 1281 (Volume 1 Complete)
Duration: 1 minute
Recording
Recorded by Antony Gray on 'Michael Blake: Afrikosmos’ (Divine Art DA 21374)
Première
First performance: 21 August 2021; Le Genesteix Concerts, Azat-le-Riz, France;
Antony Gray piano
Further performances: 22 September 2022; Chisholm Recital Room, Cape Town; Antony Gray piano
(South African première); 21 June 2023; Goldsmiths College London; Antony Gray piano
(UK première)
Programme note
Ntsikana's Bell uses Ntsikana Gaba's 200-year old hymn to explore the overtones of the piano. Keys silently depressed and held in the bass allow the overtones to ring when the notes of the hymn are struck. The prophet Ntsikana was the first Xhosa convert to Christianity, and probably the first South African composer; his four hymns are still widely sung.
for solo piano
Afrikosmos Volume 1: No 13
Dedicated to Athol Fugard and Paula Fourie
Composed 6 July 2015, Villa Serbelloni, Bellagio
Publisher: Bardic Edition
Available from Goodmusic Publishing
Score BDE 1281 (Volume 1 Complete)
Duration: 1 minute
Recording
Recorded by Antony Gray on 'Michael Blake: Afrikosmos’ (Divine Art DA 21374)
Première
First performance: 21 August 2021; Le Genesteix Concerts, Azat-le-Riz, France;
Antony Gray piano
Further performances: 22 September 2022; Chisholm Recital Room, Cape Town; Antony Gray piano
(South African première); 21 June 2023; Goldsmiths College London; Antony Gray piano
(UK première)
Programme note
Ntsikana's Bell uses Ntsikana Gaba's 200-year old hymn to explore the overtones of the piano. Keys silently depressed and held in the bass allow the overtones to ring when the notes of the hymn are struck. The prophet Ntsikana was the first Xhosa convert to Christianity, and probably the first South African composer; his four hymns are still widely sung.
