J. Simon van der Walt

Contemporary catalog

1/11/99 for Didgeridu & Band.

This was written for a group in Switzerland, to play at a concert on 1/1/2000; they suggested the interesting and unusual combination of didgeridu and symphonic wind band. Because of the nature of the occason, I decided to include a text in the piece, in a spirit of hope for the new millenium. It is taken from the Universal Declaration of Human rights;

'All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.'

The piece itself is quite straightforward, funky even; the didge is mainly used to set up rhythms which propel the piece along. Hidden under the hood are some deliberate modernist touches, including, unusually for me, some serialism.

Intial sketch for opening

Sounds