Kora (2002) - 7'
for Guitar Quartet
Second version created
for improvising guitarists (2011) - 10'
Premiered by the Cosmopolitan Guitar Quartet at Inishowen Guitar Festival, Donegal, April 2011.
Programme Note
_A 'Kora' is a harp-like instrument from Mali and surrounding countries which have Griot musical traditions.
When played by a virtuoso such as Toumani Diabate the Kora can sound like four nylon strung guitars ringing out in hypnotic beauty. So it seemed natural to me to try to recreate the sound of the Kora in the form of a Guitar Quartet.
For this piece one of the guitarists must be able to improvise in the style of a Kora player while the other three guitarists lay down an hypnotic accompaniment which is characteristic of Kora music.
Certain aspects of Kora music are very similar to Irish traditional music so some of this piece may sound like Irish traditional music to the casual listener, but this is just coincidence. This piece is based purely on Kora music, particularly the recording 'New Ancient Strings' by Toumani Diabate and Ballake Sissoko, one of the most beautiful recordings I've ever heard.
However nothing in this piece is directly taken or transcribed from this or any other Kora music. It is simply my own take on a wonderful style of music which is considered the 'classical' music of Mali.
I created a second version of Kora for The Cosmopolitan Guitar Quartet in 2011. This version gives improvising roles to all of the guitarists, reflecting the improvisational abilities of the ensemble.
This version was premiered at the Inishowen Guitar Festival in Donegal in April 2011
When played by a virtuoso such as Toumani Diabate the Kora can sound like four nylon strung guitars ringing out in hypnotic beauty. So it seemed natural to me to try to recreate the sound of the Kora in the form of a Guitar Quartet.
For this piece one of the guitarists must be able to improvise in the style of a Kora player while the other three guitarists lay down an hypnotic accompaniment which is characteristic of Kora music.
Certain aspects of Kora music are very similar to Irish traditional music so some of this piece may sound like Irish traditional music to the casual listener, but this is just coincidence. This piece is based purely on Kora music, particularly the recording 'New Ancient Strings' by Toumani Diabate and Ballake Sissoko, one of the most beautiful recordings I've ever heard.
However nothing in this piece is directly taken or transcribed from this or any other Kora music. It is simply my own take on a wonderful style of music which is considered the 'classical' music of Mali.
I created a second version of Kora for The Cosmopolitan Guitar Quartet in 2011. This version gives improvising roles to all of the guitarists, reflecting the improvisational abilities of the ensemble.
This version was premiered at the Inishowen Guitar Festival in Donegal in April 2011
