Carnival serves up traditional French music with African twist

CANDICE BRADFIELD

THE Keiskamma Arts French Carnival concert was very well received at the Port Alfred Presbyterian Church on Sunday afternoon.

Students from the Keiskamma Music Academy used a variety of instruments including the recorder, euphonium, trumpet, tenor saxophone, flute and even a kuduzela.

The concert had strong African influences. The whole group took part in the introductory song Mbizo, which was described by one of the students as when the chief calls everyone to come and celebrate with him.

The youngest performers impressed the audience with Donkey Riding, a traditional French Canadian song. They stayed on stage for L’homme arme, a Medieval French tune with the low plunking of the xylophone bringing a different feel to the theme.

The junior alto ensemble, who have all been playing alto recorder for less than a year, showed their skills in both Sauteuseand Bretonisch Tanzlied, traditional songs from the 17^th and 18^th centuries. The former stood out as being particularly playful and upbeat.

Two young performers played Thomas Morley’s duet, Fantasie Il Grillo in beautiful harmony before joined by two more for Josquin Despres’ El Grillo, the inspiration for the duet.

Music director Jen Hoyer introduced Ubi Caritas, an ancient Latin hymn with a phrase translated as "where charity and love are, God is”. The tempo and mood of the arrangements varied in pace from low, slow and gentle to more buoyant.

Carnival of Animals was the most exciting of all the pieces and is a sneak preview of what the Keiskamma Music Academy plan to put on at the National Arts Festival next year.

Each movement involves a different animal which were represented in masks or puppets artfully designed, namely Aquarium, L’Elephant, Tortues, Voliere, Le coucou au fond des bois and Marche royale du Lion.

The audience was lucky enough to hear another song not on the programme before the end of the concert.