Aue!
This
music was commissioned by a consortium of symphonic bands and wind ensembles
instigated and coordinated by Timothy Reynish. It was first performed
by the Wind Ensemble of Chetham School in Manchester in the Royal Northern
College of Music under John Dickinson in March 2001. It is published by Maecenas Music. The
two excerpts are: bar 73 to 137, and bar 253 to the end. Let me know
if you would like a perusal score. |
Programme note For three years we
lived inland at Vaia'ata in Savai'i, Samoa. Often in the evenings you
could hear sounds from the villages carried on the sea breeze –
songs, dances, bells, drums – all filtered and transformed by the
mists of the rain forest. I think of this music as describing the walk we often took from Vaia'ata down the forest track to the village of Lano. Gradually the music becomes louder and more clearly defined until one steps out into the daylight in the midst of the village 'fiafia', or celebration. The central theme is the old Samoan tune 'Faleula E', or 'People of Faleula'. The second motif, which appears first on the saxophones, is inspired by the powerful sound of the conch shell which announces an important event, and the chant-like cries of competing orators. Hymns are sung at all social events and fragments of one hymn tune appear throughout the piece, while the predominant percussive rhythm, on log and tin drums, accompanies the 'sasa', a popular dance. The word 'aue' (pronounced almost as 'ow-WAY') is a Samoan exclamation expressing strong emotion. |