Programme note
In 1983 I was commissioned by the SABC to write a short orchestral work which would represent my ‘signature’ as it were. I decided to literary put my name to music as many composers have done in the past. Unlike the B-A-C-H 4 note motif, a row of fourteen notes was derived from my name – hence the title Anagram.
The work is not a tone-row composition in the traditional sense. The row is used very freely as a point of departure for melodic fragments, chords and accompanying pattern designs.
The piece consists of three connected sections, of which the first and third are laden with energetic sound combinations by the dominating woodwinds and brass. The middle section opens with a peaceful sequence by a combination of clarinets, but this calmness is soon dispelled by an urgent string passage and dark sounds, produced by the brass.
The works ends almost abruptly, suggesting possibly my intials rather than my full signature.
Review
Du Toit, Daan. 28 March 1985, VADERLAND
Nabarro, Margaret. 29 March 1985, STAR
Traub, Michael. 29 March 1985, CITIZEN