Nigel Osborne
Zansa
Short instrumentation: 1 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 0 - perc, pno, "zansa", 2 vln, vla, vc, cb
Duration: 20'
Instrumentation details:
flute (+alto fl)
oboe (+c.a)
clarinet in Bb
bassoon
horn in F
trumpet in Bb
trombone
percussion
piano
1st violin
2nd violin
viola
violoncello
contrabass
Osborne - Zansa for chamber ensemble
Audio preview
Work introduction
Mbira and Zansa are two of a group of related works by Nigel Osborne (including Wildlife written for Ballet Rambert in 1984) which draw on a wide range of ethnic musics – from sources as far apart as Central Africa and the Amazon basin, Lapland and Papua new Guinea. Both the Mira and Zansa are forms of African thumb-piano and the Zansa itself makes a brief appearance at the centre of the larger work.
Zansa is dedicated to the memory of Serge and Natalie Koussevitsky.