Suite for Band (Stockton)

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Noel Stockton

Noel Stockton


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Subtitle: Mangaung


General Info

Year: 1988
Duration:
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Unknown
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown


Movements

1. The Hill
2. Corn Grinding Song and Knee Dance


Instrumentation

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

The Mangaung Suite was written for symphonic wind band. It was a commission which stipulated that traditional African music should be included in the composition. Traditional melodic material was researched for this work through the assistance of Andrew Tracy at Rhodes University. The piece thus also qualifies as a third stream work due to the combination of ethnic and Western art music.

- Program Note by Wikus Van Der Hoven


In 1987 Stockton was given a commission by South African Association of Bands & Ensembles to produce a small piece for symphonic wind band. It was intended that the three-movement work would contain elements of traditional African music. These plans were thrown awry when it was suddenly learned that Bloemfontein would have the honour of a week-long visit by world authority on wind bands and foremost conductor Dr. Frederick Fennell, who would take part in the first National Wind Band Festival organized by the SAASBE. This led to a request from the organization to present Stockton's then unfinished composition at a gala concert in the Sand du Plessis Theater in Bloemfontein on the 9th of April 1988, to be conducted by Fennell. This left little time for the completion of the three movements and so the work was presented as a two-movement suite.

The title and inspiration of the first movement, The Hill, resulted from walks Stockton would take up a 'koppie' close to his home, where he could 'escape' from the rush of everyday life. Sitting on the top of this hill he would look to the mountains in the distance (the mountains of Thaba Nchu, a town situated about eighty kilometers from Bloemfontein) and admire the changing colors as the sun descended. However, when he lowered his gaze he would be instantly brought back to the comparative ugliness of the city. The music is intended to portray this discrepancy in a rather simple way.

The second movement, entitled Corn Grinding Song and Knee Dance, resulted from an attempt to introduce an African element into the genre. Stockton listened to numerous recordings of African music supplied by the International Library of African Music and finally settled on the two main themes. The two main themes were recorded at the Maseru and Tebang districts of Lesotho. There have been numerous attempts to introduce elements of African music into symphonic Western art music. So far it is Stockton's personal feeling that most of these attempts have not been very successful. The pastorale setting is suggested by percussion instruments, and this leads to the chant of the lead singer. A descending bass figure adds interest entering at irregular intervals. The answering phrase (repeated continuously by the rest of the working group) gives rise to a major seventh chord which, in inversion will feature strongly as the music progresses. A grinding effect is also heard in the clarinets, tenor saxophones, muted trombones and percussion.

- Program Note by Johannes Joubert Potgieter


Mangaung is a municipality in the city of Bloemfontein, the capital of Free State, a province of South Africa.

- Program Note from Wikipedia


Media

None discovered thus far.


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Cape Town (South Africa) Philharmonic Wind Ensemble (Faan Malan, conductor) - 8 September 2022


Works for Winds by this Composer


Resources