the African experience, predicated upon rhythm with endless aspirations for freedom inspired this work and is gratefully dedicated CHILD'S PLAY/THE TRIBAL ELDER It is morning and the sun is already very hot. Children, playing in a village, seem oblivious to the oppressive heat. In their mischievous play, they come across a tribal elder in spiritual contemplation. RUNNING/THE SINGING BIRD A young male runs and runs for the thrill of running. The animals, in the open plains, seem to run with him in the same euphoric state of mind. Out of breath, he sits down in the shade of a tree and hears a singing bird. He takes out his thumb piano (Kalimba) and plays along with the bird's song. THE GATHERING/CELEBRATION/ INITIATION Animals gather in large numbers at the watering hole. The tribe comes together to celebrate its existence. The ritual of male bonding and initiation into manhood is performed by the tribal spiritual leader through circumcision on the adolescents, as only men of the tribe watch. DUSK/NIGHT In the village, a time for healing and reflecting. At the watering hole, animals grow uneasy as the sun sets into darkness. At night a predator stalks his prey and kills it. RAIN/DAWN A much-needed rain teasingly comes and goes finally developing into a severe rain and thunderstorm. But no sooner does it start than it just as suddenly stops. The day starts again. As the sun rises it awakens all who welcome the light. The heat of the rising sun eventually drowns their noise out. EMBARKATION The soul and knowledge of the tribal experience goes out into the world. ORCHESTRATION 3 Flutes, 3 doubling on Alto Flute, 1 doubling on Piccolo 2 Oboes English Horn 2 Bb Clarinets Bass Clarinet 2 Bassoons Contra Bassoon 4 Horns in F 3 Bb Trumpets 2 Tenor Trombones Bass Trombone Tuba (six percussionists) 4 Timpani (30", 28", 25" 23") Marimba Vibraphone Tom toms (medium & low) Bass Drum Crash Cymbal Tam tam Shekere (gourd wrapped in beans) Wood Block Cow Bell 14-16-22 1st Violins (because of the size and execution of the percussion, 12-14-18 2nd Violins I strongly recommend the larger string compliment) 10-12-14 Violas 8-10-12 Celli 6-8-10 Double Basses Duration: (46:34)
About the Author: Hayden Wayne (born 3/2/49) (composer/librettist) began playing piano at the age of four and played tenor drum in the orchestra pit of The King And I at the age of five, performed his first composition in concert at the age of eleven, won 2nd Prize medal for piano solo from the New York State Music Awards at fifteen, performed with major-label backed bands as Man (CBS Records) and Jobriath (Elektra Records), and toured with Sly Stone, the Yardbirds with Jimmy Page, Billy Joel, The Chamber Brothers, Gordon Lightfoot, Richie Havens, Gladys Knight, The Fifth Dimension. As a composer, in 1983 Mr. Wayne opened a new theater for the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles with his metaphorical circus Wire, won $10,000 USD as national first place in 1987 from the National Institute for Music Theater with NEON (A Street Opera) . In 2002, NEON won a 25,000 DM prize in the International Prague Opera Competition. He was commissioned to write IN MEMORIAM: A CELEBRATION, by the Interfaith Concert of Holocaust Remembrance, which premiered at Saint John the Divine in New York in 1993. Subsequently linked with SINFONIETTA #1: The Klezmer and AN ELEGY INTO MADNESS, specifically commissioned for the Fiftieth Anniversary of Israel, and titled A TRIPTYCH, had its world première at Mandel Hall, the University of Chicago in January 1998. In February 1995, his SYMPHONY #4-FUNK had its world premiere at the Janacek Theatre in Brno, The Czech Republic. It sold out in one week seven months in advance. Mr. Wayne also has several film scores and award-winning commercials for television to his credit. To date, Mr. Wayne has written over four hundred compositions including: the ballet CIRQUE DE LA LUNE, DRACULA (Opera Erotica), PIANO CONCERTO #1-The Rock "n' Roll and CELLO CONCERTO #1 which are paired as a diptych: SINFONIETTA #2 (It's a Boy) and #3-The Emerald; VIOLIN/PIANO SONATA-The "Kraft"; The Symphonic Trilogy: #2-REGGAE, #3-HEAVY METAL, #4-FUNK; SYMPHONY #5-AFRICA [A Tone Poem] (all recorded by the State Philharmonic of Brno, on New Millennium Records); the choral symphonies: #6-THE GIFT and #9-THE HOOP OF LIFE; symphonies: #1-THE SYMPHONY OF FRIENDS, #7-CELESTIAL DANCES and #8-1421; THE NUZEROV STRING QUARTETS: #1-THE ROSENBERGER VARIATIONS, #2 THE ROMANTIC, # 3, 4 and 5, # 6,7 & 8, and # 9 & 10 performed by the Wallinger String Quartet; FIVE DANCES FOR CELLO AND PIANO and PIANO QUINTET #1 (all available on New Millennium Records) and hundreds of songs in various eclectic styles.