Hertfordshire Chorus: The Open Fund for Organisations
For:
Rio Amazonas - Classical Music with a Groove
Sing, dance and swing – Rio Amazonas synthesizes classical and jazz forms with Brazilian dance rhythms to generate an exciting, new category of contemporary music: classical music with a groove. Musical themes are developed in an over-arching structure through Baroque and African-inspired counterpoint, underpinned throughout by rhythms that will make you want to move and dance. The work lasts 40 minutes and is scored for Mixed Choir, Children’s Choir, Jazz Trio, String Orchestra, Harp and Bass Clarinet/Flute.
The Amazon River inspires the first movement, trickling timidly from its first few drops at its source to the mighty terrifying beauty of its full flow. The second bustles with the multitude of insects on the forest floor: the Children’s Choir relates an updated Aesop’s fable, a philosophical discussion between a tarantula and a frog. The third meditates on the un-contacted tribes in the rain forest, whilst the finale whirls with wave upon wave of immigrants arriving at the mouth of the river, while children’s voices descant upon the harmony of Nature.
Rio Amazonas should leave audiences reflecting on the need for humanity to learn to dance with the natural world rather than trample it underfoot.
Commissioned by Hertfordshire Chorus and its Musical Director David Temple, Roland Perrin is the composer – classically-trained, a jazz pianist and an educator. His compositions range from solo piano pieces to full-scale choral works. He has developed musical theories and techniques used to teach composition and improvisation to his students at the London Centre for Contemporary Music.