Music Resource Item Type Metadata
Composer
Phungula, Njabulo (b. 1993)
Gender
Male
Work
Circles.
Duration
14 minutes
Description
Composed in 2018 and revised in 2019, this piece was commissioned by Midori Samson as part of a project to promote bassoon music by African composers. The music is atonal, with many short gestures and pointillistic elements. It is moderately challenging because of the many extended techniques required, including pitch-bending, vibrato manipulation, flutter tonguing, tongue slaps, microtones, glissandi, tremolos, and multiphonics. The low and middle registers are employed almost exclusively, although B4 is encountered once. The music was inspired by an essay with the same name by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and was a required piece for the preliminary round of the 2023 Norma Hooks Young Artist International Competition.
Date Range of Work
2018