Description

In the early 19th century Johann Gottlieb Christaller worked for the Basel Missionary Society on the Gold Coast of West Africa. Impressed by the culture of the indigenous peoples, he learned their languages and, in time, compiled a collection of aphorisms – concise and poetic maxims conveying insight into daily life. One such bon mot impresses me in particular: “From time to time the Crocodile eats a Stone”, i.e. “Things don’t always go the way you want them to”. For a missionary, this was no doubt daily reality. “From time to time the Crocodile eats a Stone” is the first of a series of compositions based on the music of Africa. The melodic material, in all its inversions and variations, is pentatonic, and the tuning, for technical reasons involving the instruments, is welltempered. Motifs from indigenous African music are woven into the fabric. The rhythmic basis is a continuous pulse felt in two- or three-note groups. Superimposed on the pulse are groups phrased in 5, 7 or 9 notes, lending a polymetric feeling. The alienation and condensation of melodic and rhythmic elements leads to an eccentric climax based on another African saying: “When two elephants fight, the grass suffers”. Here, the “grass” is the rhythmic structure of the bass-line, which takes a terrific beating from the vibraphone’s and the right piano-hand’s escapades. After that, the crocodile has eaten the stone, the elephants have quieted down and, with the Epilog, tranquillity returns.