Sowetan Spring
General Info
Year: 1990
Duration: c. 12:00
Difficulty: VII (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Cost: Score & Parts - $95.00 | Score Only - $5.95
Instrumentation
Full Score
Flute I-II-III (III doubling piccolo)
Oboe
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III-IV-V-VI
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba I-II
String Bass
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:
- Bass Drum
- Congas
- Crash Cymbals
- Gong (or Tam-tam)
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Timbales
- Tom-toms
- Wind Chimes (metal)
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Sowetan Spring was written to commemorate the release from prison of Nelson Mandela in February 1990 and uses fragments of the South African people’s national anthem Nkosi Sikelel’ I Afrika.
I have for many years been fascinated by the music of the Dutch composer Louis Andriessen and especially by his handling of antiphonal hocketing effects. [A "hocket" is defined as "a spasmodic or interrupted effect in medieval and contemporary music, produced by dividing a melody between two parts, notes in one part coinciding with rests in the other."] So much so that I have been tempted into writing a hocket of my own on a number of occasions. A hocket opens this work, Sowetan Spring, but the antiphonal separation is not a spatial one but based on timbral differences. Another difference is that this hocket is not the basis of a static minimalist process but develops through interaction with other materials into a more dramatic scenario.
This is a special BASBWE (British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles) commission, to mark Glasgow’s designation as The Cultural Capital of Europe in 1990, with funds provided by BASBWE (Scotland).
- Program Note by composer
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Sowetan Spring (1990)
Resources
- Hocket. Wikipedia.
- MacMillan, J. (1991,2002). Sowetan Spring [score]. Boosey & Hawkes: [United States].
- "SOWETAN SPRING by Sir James Macmillan (Scotland)." WASBE. Web. (Featured as WASBE’s Composition of the Week, 7 December 2020). Accessed 14 January 2023