The Seven Steps (2019)
for solo piano
Afrikosmos Volume 5: No 1
Dedicated to Pierre-Henri and Wilmien Wicomb
Composed 13-16 December 2019, Saint-Léger-Magnazeix
Publisher: Bardic Edition
Available from Goodmusic Publishing
Score BDE 1285 (Volume 5 Complete)
Duration: 1'05"
Recording
Recorded by Antony Gray on 'Michael Blake: Afrikosmos’ (Divine Art DA 21374)
Première
First performance: 21 August 2021; Le Genesteix Concerts, Azat-le-Ris, France; Antony Gray piano
Further performance: 22 September 2022; Chisholm Recital Room, Cape Town (South African première); Antony Gray piano; 21 June 2023; Goldsmiths College London; Antony Gray piano (UK première)
Programme note
The Seven Steps refers to the seven degrees of the major and minor scales and the modes, but it is also a famous historical landmark in District Six, Cape Town, the thriving area in the city that was destroyed by the apartheid government after black people were forcibly removed. Inspired by one of Bartók’s ‘Mikrokosmos’, this very rhythmic music constantly shifts between 2/4 and 6/8 and uses a great deal of syncopation.
for solo piano
Afrikosmos Volume 5: No 1
Dedicated to Pierre-Henri and Wilmien Wicomb
Composed 13-16 December 2019, Saint-Léger-Magnazeix
Publisher: Bardic Edition
Available from Goodmusic Publishing
Score BDE 1285 (Volume 5 Complete)
Duration: 1'05"
Recording
Recorded by Antony Gray on 'Michael Blake: Afrikosmos’ (Divine Art DA 21374)
Première
First performance: 21 August 2021; Le Genesteix Concerts, Azat-le-Ris, France; Antony Gray piano
Further performance: 22 September 2022; Chisholm Recital Room, Cape Town (South African première); Antony Gray piano; 21 June 2023; Goldsmiths College London; Antony Gray piano (UK première)
Programme note
The Seven Steps refers to the seven degrees of the major and minor scales and the modes, but it is also a famous historical landmark in District Six, Cape Town, the thriving area in the city that was destroyed by the apartheid government after black people were forcibly removed. Inspired by one of Bartók’s ‘Mikrokosmos’, this very rhythmic music constantly shifts between 2/4 and 6/8 and uses a great deal of syncopation.
