World famous composer brings African music to China
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David Fanshawe, the widely-acclaimed contemporary composer in the world, is going to stage African Sanctus, his famous work, at the Beijing Century Theatre.
The composer first conceived of the work, in 1966 on the hill of the citadel of Cairo overlooking the Nile River as he dreamed of a Western choir accompanying the Islamic Call to Prayer.
His romantic vision was first realized in October 1972, the culmination of relentless and 'hair-raising' excursions recording the traditional music of over 50 tribes in Arabia and North and East Africa.
Immensely fascinated by the African continent and its music, Fanshawe recounts his many adventures; among which was the occurrence in 1970 on the Tana River when his dug-out canoe was overturned by a hippopotamus and the most recent recordings drowned as he was pursued to the riverbank.
However, the majority of the recordings presented with the performance of African Sanctus stem from his 1969 journey hitch-hiking down the Nile. Soprano, alto, tenor and bass choir, a soprano soloist and spectacular percussion accompany these rare recordings during a live performance.
David Fanshawe is a Churchill Fellow and the recipient of many international awards including, Ivor Novello, ARIA Gold Record, & AFI Best Sound. Born in 1942 in Devon, England he was educated at St. George's Choir School and Stowe School, after which he joined a documentary film company in London and now is acclaimed as "one of the world's most original composers". His work has itself been the subject of biographical documentaries shown on the BBC.
This spring, Beijing International Festival Chorus (IFC) opens its 2010 season with the multimedia presentation of African Sanctus at the Beijing Century Theatre. An international group, the IFC is represented by at least 20 different countries including members from the UK, China, and the USA.
Nick Smith, the Artistic Director of the performance said, "African Sanctus is a work which takes its strength from the connections between different cultures, and so in many ways is a work peculiarly suited to the IFC." Born in 1967, Smith read music at Cambridge University, England and studied conducting and composition privately with Reginald Thompson.
After relocating to Beijing in 1995 he has been an active conductor of orchestral and choral music. In 2002, Smith founded IFC, a not-for-profit choral society that specializes in the performance of large-scale choral works and, with the IFC, Smith has given PRC first performances of works as diverse as Bach St. Matthew Passion and Constance Lambert The Rio Grande.
Acclaimed as one of the best choirs in Asia, the IFC was invited to perform at the 5th Beijing Music Festival in the televised PRC premier of Mahler 8th Symphony under the baton of the Festival artistic director Yu Long. The IFC has also performed with the China Philharmonic Orchestra.
Xu Xueming, Beijing IFC member says, "for China, the existence of IFC gives many more people the opportunity to understand something of Western musical culture. Its goal is merely to bring music - - without any political trappings - to people of China. Because IFC members come from all over the world, it is a place where cultures can merge and come together. There are men, women, old, young, people of all status and walks of life. When we meet at the party after a concert, with friends and wine and songs, isn't that the next best thing to heaven?"
According to Smith, much like the IFC expresses Western culture in a Chinese context, Fanshawe's African Sanctus is structured in a "western" classical music format, but based on African song and drumming. "It is a great work to do; it involves many different elements - vocal, percussion, pre-recorded tape [and] there is something here for everyone," enthuses Smith.
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