Kalabash

Nigel Westlake

General Info

Year of Published: 2004
Publisher: Australian Music Centre
Duration: 00:07:29
Difficulty: Advanced
Cost: $50.00

Instrumentation

Player 1: Marimba 1 & Log Drum & Splash Cymbal & Wood Block
Player 2: Marimba 2 & Log Drum & Splash Cymbal & Wood Block
Player 3: Marimba 3 & Cowbell & Splash Cymbal & Wood Block
Player 4: Marimba 4 & Cowbell & Splash Cymbal & Wood Block

Program note

Kalabash for four percussionists, was composed as part of the HC Coombs Creative Arts Fellowship for the ANU School of Music’s student percussion ensemble Drumatix & was premiered by them at the National Art Gallery in July 2004. Two marimbas & a selection of splash cymbals & log drums are shared amongst the four players who engage in a virtuosic interplay reminiscent of the balofon music of West Africa. The balofon is the forerunner of the modern marimba & shares many physical characteristics with its modern counterpart, the main difference being that the wooden bars (or notes) are suspended above a collection of different sized kalabash gourds instead of aluminium resnonators. In some instances these gourds have spiderwebs stretched over their openings which create a fantastic buzzing resonance when the bars are hit with mallets. The traditional music of West Africa frequently features the balofon & there are many accomplished exponents of dazzling virtuosity amongst the tribes of Northern Ghana. It is the musical gestures & celebratory nature of this folk music which in some ways informs the language of Kalabash & though there is no direct borrowing of musical themes or techniques, this exotic sound world has become a departure point for the compositional process.

Works for Percussion by this Composer

Fabian Theory - Multiple Percussion
Hinchinbrook Riff - Marimba
Kalabash - Percussion Quartet
Malachite Glass - Percussion Quartet & Bass Clarinet
Moving Air for Percussion Quartet & Tape- Percussion Quartet & Tape
Omphalo Centric Lecture - Marimba Quartet