ROBERT MAXYM, A CELEBRATION OF AFRICA

One of the main goals of the CPO is to partner and collaborate with musicians who make up the rich tapestry of South African music. These include composers and arrangers as well as performers, and to mark the 75th birthday of conductor, composer and educator Robert Maxym, we invited him to showcase some the works that he has brought to the concert stage nationally and internationally. His career, beginning with his musical education in New York, has spanned 50 years, the last 30 as a permanent resident in South Africa.

After his debut in Johannesburg in 1991 with the SABC’s National Symphony Orchestra, Maxym returned in 1992 and the following year moved here where he soon “became immersed in South African music and culture at a whirlwind pace”, living through political and social upheaval, such as observing the Zulu march to the Union Buildings in 1993, and clearly hearing the rifle shots fired at Luthuli House in 1994 from the balcony of a cultural/musical meeting in Hillbrow.

“It was clear to me that the healing power of music was never more necessary than in South Africa at that time. And, of course, since.”

Maxym’s oeuvre covers more than 20 works — arrangements, orchestrations and original compositions. For the celebration on September 28, he has chosen three representative works.

Photos by Zipho Sebati

The Suite from Jacqueline Martens’ three-act opera, Children of Africa, is followed by Siyakhulekela, a dramatic Zulu Wedding Scene for Praise Poet, Chorus, and Orchestra and then excerpts from Mzilikazi Khumalo’s uShaka, KaSenzangakhona.

“Late in 1994, Mzilikazi Khumalo asked me to do orchestral enrichment and enhancement of his Epic in Music and Praise Poetry Ushaka, KaSenzangakhona, based on the orchestration by Dr Chris James. Khumalo had written the original work in a capella tonic sol fa. It was first performed in 1996 and was part of the Ten Years of Democracy tour arranged by Robert Brooks and Miagi in 2004 that took us to Spain, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium and Hungary.

“My good friend, the cellist Peter Martens, brought me ‘granny’s opera’ in 2000. Children of Africa, which Jacqueline Martens dedicated to ‘to all people of good will’, tells of strife, reconciliation and understanding among people in the eastern foothills of Africa in the 19th century. I created the orchestral suite in 2002 to give some idea of the innate beauty and power of this work.

“Siyakhulekela, a dramatic Zulu wedding scene for praise poet, choir and orchestra, is intended to be a founding statement for a new genre in South African serious music. I asked Themba Msimang for subject matter of seminal importance to the culture of the Zulu people, whether concerning birth, death, passage rites, kingship or, as it turned out in late 2003, marriage. Msimang’s poem concerns that moment in the traditional Zulu wedding ceremony when the bride’s family presents her to the family of the groom.

“The musical milestones I have experienced in South Africa have allowed me to find an independent voice as composer, which is perhaps the most satisfying development of my long musical career. All my work represents and pays homage to the value that high traditional culture can bring to the world, when treated with equanimity, integrity and respect.”

Photos by Zipho Sebati