Press
“Hear [the Duo Kalysta] if you can, either in concert or this way.”
— Gorman, American Record Guide
May-June 2020 (about the recording Origins)
“Deutsch, a player who can soften or strengthen her handsome tone according to need, is very much in the first chair.”
— Arthur Kaptainis, La Scena Musicale
February 2020
"Deutsch revealed new worlds of colour and meaning in every single note ... an astonishing artist"
— Scott Tresham, Senior Producer at CBC Music
“Hear [the Duo Kalysta] if you can, either in concert or this way.”
— Gorman, American Record Guide
May-June 2020 (about the recording Origins)
“Deutsch, a player who can soften or strengthen her handsome tone according to need, is very much in the first chair.”
— Arthur Kaptainis, La Scena Musicale
February 2020
"Deutsch revealed new worlds of colour and meaning in every single note ... an astonishing artist"
— Scott Tresham, Senior Producer at CBC Music
Read more
Programmes and Projects
Audio
Discography
News
Bongani Ndodana-Breen
Hymn
Hymn
Interlude from "Umuntu: Threnody & Dances"
Interlude tiré de "Umuntu: Threnody & Dances"
“Hymn” is an interlude from the monodrama Umuntu: Threnody and Dances commissioned in 2000 by the soprano Linda Bukhosini through a grant from the National Arts Council of South Africa.
The title alludes to the hymns that were deliberately sung slowly at weekly funerals in South Africa’s Black townships during the 1980s. This is at the time the apartheid government had declared a state of emergency. Church hymns were not only sung as such slow tempi, but would also be woven with improvised polyphony metrically unaligned to the original metre of the hymn. The experience was an enveloping ocean of sound that held and comforted the community in a moment of grief.
— Bongani Ndodana-Breen, composer
"Hymn" est un interlude du monodrame Umuntu : Threnody and Dances, commandé en 2000 par la soprano Linda Bukhosini grâce à une subvention du Conseil national des arts d'Afrique du Sud.
Le titre fait allusion aux hymnes qui étaient délibérément chantés lentement lors des funérailles hebdomadaires dans les quartiers noirs d'Afrique du Sud dans les années 1980. C'était à l'époque où le gouvernement de l'apartheid avait déclaré l'état d'urgence. Les hymnes de l'église n'étaient pas seulement chantés à des tempi aussi lents, mais ils étaient aussi tissés de polyphonies improvisées dont la métrique n'était pas alignée sur le rythme original de l'hymne. L'expérience a créé un océan sonore enveloppant qui a soutenu et réconforté la communauté dans un moment de deuil.
- Bongani Ndodana-Breen, compositeur
SPECS
Duration:
3'
Movements:
Roles:
Instrumentation:
String orchestra (violas, celli and basses)
Orchestre à cordes (altos, violoncelles et contrebasses)
Tech:
Language:
BACKGROUND
Date of composition:
2000
Commissionner:
Commissioned by the National Arts Council of South Africa
National Arts Council of South Africa
Performances:
Boston Conservatory String Orchestra, Vimbayi Kaziboni (conductor) Boston Conservatory Theater, 25 Sep 2021
Boston Conservatory String Orchestra, Vimbayi Kaziboni (chef d'orchestre) Boston Conservatory Theater, 25 septembre 2021
Awards:
Press:
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Composer Bongani Ndodana-Breen has written a wide range of music encompassing symphonic work, opera, chamber music and vocal music. According to The New York Times his “delicately made music - airy, spacious, terribly complex but never convoluted - has a lot to teach the Western wizards of metric modulation and layered rhythms about grace and balance.” Performers around the world have performed his music including the Minnesota Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau, Vancouver Opera Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Kwa Zulu-Natal Philharmonic, Johannesburg Festival Orchestra, Johannesburg Philharmonic, Cape Town Philharmonic, New York City’s Vox Vocal Ensemble, New Julliard Ensemble, Juventas Ensemble, Continuum Contemporary Music Toronto, Chicago’s Cube Ensemble, Avalon String Quartet and Ossia.
Le compositeur Bongani Ndodana-Breen a écrit un large éventail de types d'œuvres musicales incluant des œuvres symphoniques, des opéras, de la musique de chambre et de la musique vocale. Selon le New York Times sa “musique délicatement conçue - aérienne, spacieuse, d’une complexité terrible, mais dont le raffinement n’est jamais excessif - a beaucoup à apprendre aux fins experts de la modulation métrique et des rythmes superposés à propos de la grâce et de l’équilibre.” Des musiciens de partout à travers le monde ont interprété sa musique, notamment le Minnesota Orchestra, le Belgian National Orchestra, l’Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, l’Anhaltische Philharmonie Dessau, le Vancouver Opera Orchestra, la Symphony Nova Scotia, le Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, le Kwa Zulu-Natal Philharmonic, le Johannesburg Festival Orchestra, le Johannesburg Philharmonic, le Cape Town Philharmonic, le New York City’s Vox Vocal Ensemble, le New Julliard Ensemble, le Juventas Ensemble, le Continuum Contemporary Music Toronto, le Cube Ensemble de Chicago, l’Avalon String Quartet et Ossia.
ABOUT THE LIBRETTIST
About the work