Njabulo Phungula

Njabulo Phungula: Circles for Solo Bassoon

Circles was inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay of the same name in which he discusses the various metaphorical circles that can be found in life and society. Njabulo did not try to stick too closely to it as a model for the work, though. Instead, he thought about the very basic idea of circles and cycles. A big part of such circles is the lack of noticeable development which, again, Emerson touches on in his essay. As a response, he tried to write a piece in which he utilised two motifs (if he can even call them that) that do not seem to move logically from one point to the next and are therefore always in a state of development. There is no meaningful end point. "The eye is the first circle; the horizon which it forms is the second; and throughout nature this primary figure is repeated without end..." - Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Circles" (1841) Duration 13' 2023 IDRS competition piece commissioned by Midori Samson.

SKU

X-1298