ZIMBE! – ALEXANDER L’ESTRANGE

Ely and Lichfield Cathedrals have recently staged enormously successful

performances of Alexander L’Estrange’s Zimbe!, an African-inspired cantata for

SATB chorus, children’s choir and jazz quintet

Both performances brought together adult singers and cathedral choristers with

a multitude of children from local primary schools. The historic buildings were

packed to the rafters and drew praise from audience and performers alike:

ELY CATHEDRAL, 2 May 2009

From the conductor:

‘We’ve recently given only the third ever performance of Zimbe! at Ely Cathedral. In

a special year of celebration (the Ely diocese is 900 years old this year) I wanted to

find a piece which would be fun for a large group of performers and inexpensive to

mount. I also needed a piece which could be learned quickly by adults and children

of very varied ability. The vocal forces used for the Ely performance included the

cathedral choir, an adult amateur choir, a school choral society and two children’s

choirs (but it is not necessary to have so many singers). To say that Alexander’s piece

fitted the bill admirably would be an understatement. If you are looking for

something different with immediate audience-appeal I warmly commend Zimbe! - not

just because it is so singable, but also because the performance and rehearsal material

has been so well prepared.’

(Paul Trepte, conductor and director or music, Ely Cathedral)

From the critic:

‘This concert was a wonderful conclusion to a fun-packed day in Ely. The combined

forces of the boys, girls and men of Ely Cathedral Choir, The King’s School Chapel

Choir, The King’s Junior School Choir (director Neil Porter Thaw), Ely Cathedral

Octagon Singers (director Jan Payne), The Ely Imps (director Rebecca Duckworth)

and Lantern Dance Theatre Company (director Helen Pettit) filled the cathedral with

massive sounds and eye-catching dances. Jonathan Lilley, his reputation as a highly

talented organist and pianist already well established, enhanced the performances

impeccably with his customary accuracy, vigour and sensitivity…

After the interval, the audience was spellbound with an amazing performance of

Zimbe by Alexander L’Estrange. The listeners were drawn into the colourful and

rhythmic world of an African village. A vibrant and innate pulse that crosses all

cultures filled the movements and carried the listeners along with its vitality and sense

of uninhibited spontaneity. Harmonies that seemed almost glued together, chant like

evocations and trance-like improvisations inextricably captured the listeners. The

level of excitement was raised to greater heights with amazing jazz extemporizations,

primeval drumming, evocative percussion and a troupe of lithe dancers who moved

through the aisles reflecting the spirit of the music beautifully. The jazz quintet

players were certainly a force to be reckoned with and consisted of: Julian Landymore

(saxophone), John Turville ( piano), Steve Richardson (double bass) and Will Sivier

and Gary Hart (percussion).

This was indeed a most joyous occasion.’

Ely Standard (Dr R J Westwell), May 2009

From a performer:

Hi Alex,

Just a quick note to say ‘Hi!’ and to repeat the general good feelings about Saturday’s

Ely concert.

It’s a real ‘good vibe’ piece!! and what a venue to perform in!!

Take care matey!! See ya.

Steve (daBassman) Richardson

P.T.O.

LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL, 16 May 2009

From the conductor:

‘Zimbe! is challenging yet at the same time accessible: great for the whole choral

community.

Both performers and audience had a wonderful evening.

Zimbe! is very cleverly constructed, sustaining momentum over 40 minutes and

building to a tremendous climax.

The children love learning the beautiful and simple African melodies, and get the

tremendous thrill of performing them within a complex and attractive web of choral

sound.

Even adult singers with little experience can learn the full chorus parts easily, and

quickly get in the groove!

It is remarkably inexpensive to put on as the band is small but very effective.

Our professional bunch of experienced choristers loved it as much as the children and

adults who were singing in public for the very first time.

Zimbe! fills a yawning chasm in the choral market.

Zimbe! is simple to learn, attractive to sing and exhilarating to perform: it will not be

long before it is being performed across the land.’

Peter Allwood (Headmaster, Lichfield Cathedral School)

From performers:

‘Zimbe! manages to be instantly approachable yet suitably challenging – it’s great fun

for the performers (young and old alike) and, from the reaction at the end of

Saturday's concert, it’s a sure-fire hit with audiences too. I would recommend it to

any and every Choral Society - and if you want to reach out to and involve the young

singers in local schools I couldn’t think of anything better!’

(Colin Walker - music teacher, ABRSM examiner, after taking part in Zimbe! at

Lichfield Cathedral, 16 May 2009)

‘I couldn’t stand still for wanting to dance to the vibrancy of the music.’

(Cathy Lamb, “Sing Up” Cathedral Outreach Programme representative/children’s

choir trainer, Lichfield)

And here is a lovely article by a pupil of Great Barr School:

‘In the words of one of the many traditional African songs which filled Lichfield

Cathedral with the heat and spirit of the African plains on Saturday 16 May 2009,

‘Ilanga libuya; ilanga liyaphuma’ – ‘The sun sets; the sun rises’.

How perfectly that song captured the atmosphere for the audience who had gathered

to hear seven choirs, including the Great Barr School Choir, perform Alexander

L’Estrange’s brilliant African and gospel-inspired work, Zimbe!, to the

accompaniment of a jazz quintet. At the close of a splendid English spring day, the

sun glittered through the Cathedral’s stained glass, the beams marking a course up the

columns, softening and warming as the sun set. It was as if it had made an

appearance, more by design than fortuitous accident, to deepen our insight into the

hypnotic, distinctly African harmonies which the choirs were singing. It was a sound

filled with sunshine and dust, sadness and joy, spirituality, hope and defiance,

suffering and celebration, poverty and unity.

‘Zimbe’, Swahili for ‘Sing them’ is a wonderful fusion of African and ‘world music’,

jazz, pop and the Western choral tradition. Alexander L’Estrange, who played double

bass with the jazz quintet, says that he wanted “to capture the essence of the African

spirit through glimpses into the human experience – simple children’s playground

songs from Ghana and Zimbabwe; a Xhosa lullaby for mothers of the victims of

Apartheid; a raucous drinking song; sensuous wedding songs; and some beautiful

funeral and worship music – all imbued with the spirit, energy and simplicity that is

so typical of the African song tradition.”

He clearly achieved what he was aiming for. There were times during the piece

where there wasn’t a foot in the house that wasn’t tapping and had it not felt

uncomfortably disrespectful and inappropriate in a mediaeval house of worship,

there’s a good chance most of us would have been dancing on our chairs. And there

were other moments in which we were filled with a profound sense of grief, such as in

the funeral song when a lone soprano voice rose out of the choir, a vivid expression of

a mother’s pain at losing a child.

There were moments where the focus of the singing shifted from the more mature

voices of the adult choirs to those of the children of St Chad’s CE Primary School

choir, giving a sense of fragility, vulnerability and innocence, but also of the hope for

a better future.

The songs which comprise Zimbe! capture the experiences which are as well-known

to every human being, no matter where or when they were born, as the rising and

setting of the sun. They are songs which capture the cycle of human experience, and

as such, they have the power to touch us all.

Closing with the uplifting anthem, ‘Freedom is coming, spread the new word’, Zimbe!

left the audience on a high. Thanking all involved, the Dean of Lichfield Cathedral

captured the mood, asking rhetorically, “Doesn’t it make you realise how wonderful it

is to be alive?”

Singing alongside the choirs from Great Barr and St Chad’s were the Palace Singers,

the Lichfield Cathedral Young Voices, the Lichfield Cathedral School Junior Choir,

the Lichfield Cathedral School Girls’ Choir and the Lichfield Cathedral Choristers.

The music was masterfully directed by Peter Allwood, Headteacher of the Lichfield

Cathedral School.

Mrs Abbott, our Headteacher, said, “It was a wonderful opportunity for our pupils to

perform in such a tremendous space with such skilful musicians. We look forward to

working with the Lichfield Cathedral School again in the very near future.”

The event was staged to raise funds for the Great Barr School’s bid to take 150

computers to the Waterloo School, our partner school in Sierra Leone. Speaking at the

end of the concert, Dr Laurie Reed, founder of the Waterloo Schools’ Charity, spoke

of his experience of returning to Sierra Leone in 2005 after the long, damaging civil

war had ended. As a young man, before the war, he had been Principal at the school

for several years. “When I returned, I found that some of the teachers had been shot.

Some of the children had been shot. But there they were; they were back and ready to

start again.”

After all, every sunset is as surely followed by a sunrise.’

And here is a link to that article at the school’s site, plus another web article from the

Waterloo Schools Charity page:

http://www.greatbarrschool.org.uk/newsroom_display_article.asp?newsid=222

http://www.waterloo-schools.org/news/index.php?itemid=41

RICHMOND, NORTH YORKSHIRE, 3 May 2009

From the conductor:

‘I think the music proved infectious. It was exciting to sing and move to, and none of

the singers can get the tunes out of their heads! The costumes were colourful, we had

African paintings and decorations in the church and dramatic flowers. The

performance was a wonderful experience, thoroughly enjoyed by performers and

audience alike. One of the audience said it was the best Sunday afternoon he had had

in years.

So, thank you from all of us for composing such a great work for us to perform.’

Carol Gedye

From the premiere:

Justin Doyle conducts the Dorking Choral Society in the world premiere of Zimbe!,

November 2008: