Michael Blake
WAAIHOEK TEA PARTY for double bass and piano
Bardic Edition BDE1435
Waaihoek Tea Party can be interpreted as a miniature tone poem or melodrama depicting a little-known event that took place in South Africa more than 100 years ago. On 12 July, 1918 Bloemfontein’s English newspaper "The Friend" recorded that the local magistrate had "sentenced a native to a fine of £1 or 14 days imprisonment with hard labour for holding a tea party in the Waaihoek location after the time allowed him by the permission previously obtained from the police".
The town was divided by this action: between those who pointed out "the absurdity of someone being summarily arrested because his guests took too long to disperse", and the hardliners who simply observed that the law had been broken. The editor of the newspaper, who saw both points of view, fielded the tea party debate which became "a measure of underlying tensions in race relations" in this small Free State community. (Waaihoek is the town where the African National Congress was founded in 2012).
The hero’s largely narrative musical line is taken by the double bass, with the piano assuming different personae in the form of spaces and their occupants: native location, town, police cell. Much of the material is derived from music for the uhadi bow, lesiba bow and indigenous birdsong. The double bass music itself was inspired by the playing of both Leon Bosch, and the American jazz bassist Barre Phillips.
The work was commissioned by Leon Bosch who gave the first performance with Rose Chancler (piano) on 7 June, 2017 during the annual gathering of the International Society of Bassists, Ithaca College, NY. The work was subsequently revised between February - July, 2022. Michael Blake
Duration 11 minutes
The town was divided by this action: between those who pointed out "the absurdity of someone being summarily arrested because his guests took too long to disperse", and the hardliners who simply observed that the law had been broken. The editor of the newspaper, who saw both points of view, fielded the tea party debate which became "a measure of underlying tensions in race relations" in this small Free State community. (Waaihoek is the town where the African National Congress was founded in 2012).
The hero’s largely narrative musical line is taken by the double bass, with the piano assuming different personae in the form of spaces and their occupants: native location, town, police cell. Much of the material is derived from music for the uhadi bow, lesiba bow and indigenous birdsong. The double bass music itself was inspired by the playing of both Leon Bosch, and the American jazz bassist Barre Phillips.
The work was commissioned by Leon Bosch who gave the first performance with Rose Chancler (piano) on 7 June, 2017 during the annual gathering of the International Society of Bassists, Ithaca College, NY. The work was subsequently revised between February - July, 2022. Michael Blake
Duration 11 minutes
