Product Description
Movement III Edo (Royal Serenade): In Edo, the melody from this serenade is inspired by royal court traditions from the ancient Edo (or Benin) Kingdom of western Africa. The queen-mother, who rarely visited the king's court, would often be serenaded by court musicians. Four More Dances for Wind Quintet, in the composers own words, "is an experimental journey into some of Africas vast rhythmic and harmonic languages, musical traditions whose roots are not immediately apparent and have no taint of Westernization, but which possibly portend a new frontier for future composers." The melodies are drawn from his travels in over thirty African countries. Each movement follows the basic pattern of opening, development, recapitulation and closing. As flutist Dr. Wendy Hymes (www.wendyhymes.com) noted in their cousin transcriptions, "Five Sketches for Flute, Violin and Piano," "the work is a major rhythmic workout, albeit, one that fine musicians will find worthwhile. It is a brief journey into Africas vast sanctum of intricate rhythms." Each movement is complete and independent but collectively they utter a celebration of life, of a peoples accomplishments, their hopes and aspiration for the future.
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