Michael Blake
SI LU SAPO VARIATIONS for piano
Bardic Edition BDE1369
Reuben Caluza’s (1895-1969) choral song Si Lu Sapo or iLand Act was composed in 1913 in response to the passing of the Land Act by the British colonial government, restricting black ownership of land in the Cape. The apartheid government later extended this to the whole country and only since 1994 is land being returned to its rightful owners.
Si Lu Sapo Variations commemorates the centenary of the passing of this law. The variations are presented non-sequentially, with fragments of Caluza’s haunting song heard only at the end, in its original harmonisation. It is ntended as the first piece in an ongoing cycle A Pianist’s History of Apartheid.
The first performance was given by the composer at the Gentsche Festspiele, Belgium on 24 July 2013 in the auditorium of the Koninklijke Academie voor Nederlandse Taal en Letterkunde.
Duration 11½ minutes
Si Lu Sapo Variations commemorates the centenary of the passing of this law. The variations are presented non-sequentially, with fragments of Caluza’s haunting song heard only at the end, in its original harmonisation. It is ntended as the first piece in an ongoing cycle A Pianist’s History of Apartheid.
The first performance was given by the composer at the Gentsche Festspiele, Belgium on 24 July 2013 in the auditorium of the Koninklijke Academie voor Nederlandse Taal en Letterkunde.
Duration 11½ minutes
