Kevin Volans facts for kids

Kevin Volans, a South African-born Irish composer.

Kevin Volans (born 26 July 1949) is a composer and pianist from South Africa, now an Irish citizen. He studied music in Germany in the 1970s. He became known for a style called Neue Einfachheit (New Simplicity). This style focused on simpler, more direct music.

Later, he became interested in the traditional music of his home country, South Africa. He started writing pieces that mixed African and European music styles. Even though he later moved away from directly using African music, some of its ideas, like repeating rhythms and open forms, can still be heard in his work. He moved to Ireland in 1986 and became an Irish citizen in 1994.

Biography

Kevin Volans was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, on 26 July 1949. As a teenager, he loved modern music and abstract painting. He studied music at the University of the Witwatersrand. After more studies in Scotland, he moved to Cologne, Germany, in 1973.

In Cologne, he was one of only five students chosen for Karlheinz Stockhausen's special composition class. Stockhausen was a very famous composer. Volans learned a lot about Stockhausen's complex music methods. He even became Stockhausen's teaching assistant. He also took lessons in music theatre and piano.

While in Cologne, Volans felt that the new music scene was too strict. He and other composers, like Walter Zimmermann, wanted a different approach. This group started the Neue Einfachheit (New Simplicity) movement. They wanted music that was clearer and more direct. They also wanted to use older musical ideas and existing sounds, which was different from the very abstract music of the time.

Africa Series

Even though Volans grew up in South Africa, he didn't have much contact with local traditional music. This was because of apartheid, a system that kept black and white cultures separate.

However, in the late 1970s, a German radio station asked him to travel around South Africa. His job was to record different kinds of traditional African music. This trip opened his eyes to African culture and music. He then decided to create a series of works that would blend African and European music.

He planned for the first pieces to sound very African. Then, as the series went on, he would slowly add more of his own style. By the end, the African sounds would be fully mixed into his unique music. He said he wanted to create "a new music of southern Africa."

• His series started with Mbira (1981), which used traditional patterns.
• Matepe (1982) was more non-traditional.
• By She Who Sleeps with a Small Blanket (1985), only the title was African.

Volans, as a white South African, hoped this music would help fight against apartheid. Some of his performances even faced protests from the music world in South Africa.

The most famous piece from this series is White Man Sleeps (1982). It was written for two harpsichords, a viola da gamba, and percussion. In this piece, Volans tried to make Western music sound "African." He used melodies and rhythms from Venda, San, Nyungwe, and Lesotho music. He also used his own ideas. He even re-tuned the instruments to get a different sound.

When the famous Kronos Quartet recorded a new version of White Man Sleeps for string quartet, it became one of the best-selling string quartet albums ever. Later works, like his second and third string quartets, still had some African influences. But they also started to explore ideas from African textiles and the open-ended music of composer Morton Feldman.

Towards Abstraction

Even though his African series was very successful, Volans felt he was being labeled only as an "African" composer. He found this limiting. In the late 1980s, he started to explore a new style. This new style was more abstract, meaning it was less about clear themes and more about sounds and patterns. Sometimes, though, African elements would still appear.

You can see this new direction in pieces like Chevron (1990) and One Hundred Frames (1991). It also shows up in his opera The Man with Footsoles of Wind (1993). Around this time, he also became very interested in writing music for dance. This art form fit well with his open way of structuring music. He worked with famous choreographers like Jonathan Burrows and Siobhan Davies.

A very important piece that showed this new direction was Cicada (1994) for two pianos. Volans was inspired by a special art installation called a Skyspace. The piece uses very slow changes in sound, harmony, and speed. It's based on a repeated sound made from two simple chords. Volans called Cicada his first minimalist piece. This means it uses very few musical ideas. It was a big change from his earlier, more active music. Even without clear African sounds, the piece still uses ideas like repeating patterns and open forms, showing how African music still influenced him in the background.

After Cicada, Volans continued to simplify his music. He focused on tiny changes at the edges of the sound. He explained that 20th-century music was often "busy." He wanted to explore "emptiness" in music, like many visual artists do in their paintings. He aimed for music that was like a "blank canvas."

Two pieces that show this idea are his String Quartet No. 6 and the Concerto for Double Orchestra.

• String Quartet No. 6 is actually for two string quartets playing separately. The piece mostly uses just two chords that overlap, creating a blurred sound. This was inspired by the paintings of Mark Rothko.
• In the Concerto for Double Orchestra (2001), sounds are passed back and forth between two parts of the orchestra. The focus is on the "edges" of the chords, like sharp plucks, rather than blending them.

These works show Volans's interest in focusing on small details in music. He looks at how loud or soft the music is, how instruments are played, and the different sounds they make. These are usually seen as less important than melody and rhythm. By reducing the main musical ideas, he makes listeners pay attention to the smallest changes, much like looking closely at a painting.

However, not all of Volans's music is this reduced. His concertos, like the Trio Concerto (2005) and Piano Concerto No. 2 (2006), are known for being very lively and showing off the musicians' skills.

His most recent work explores how different parts of the music can play somewhat independently. For example, The Partenheimer Project (2007) uses three separate groups of instruments. In Violin: Piano (2008) and Cello: Piano (2008), the instruments play at different speeds, often with irregular repeating patterns. This creates music that feels calm and floating, without a clear direction.

Volans's music is often seen as a reaction against overly complex music. But his use of dynamics (louds and softs) and articulation (how notes are played) is always about the structure of the music, not just expressing feelings. He is part of the modernism tradition. Music critic Kyle Gann said that Volans "remains one of the planet's most distinctive and unpredictable voices" because he refuses to repeat himself or others.

In 1997, BBC Music Magazine named Volans one of the 50 most important living composers. His work has been celebrated with special concerts in London for his 50th, 60th, and 70th birthdays.

Students

Volans taught music composition at the University of Natal in South Africa. He also worked as a composer-in-residence at Queen's University Belfast and Princeton University. Since moving to Ireland in 1985, he has had a big impact on music there through his teaching. One of his notable students is Jennifer Walshe.

Discography

• She Who Sleeps with a Small Blanket (Robin Schulkowsky, CD, Sony, 1985)
• String Quartet No. 1: 'White Man Sleeps' (Kronos Quartet, CD, Elektra Nonesuch, 1987)
• String Quartet No. 1: 'White Man Sleeps', (Dance no. 1) (Kronos Quartet, CD, Elektra Nonesuch, 1987)
• String Quartet No. 1: 'White Man Sleeps', Mbira, She Who Sleeps with a Small Blanket, White Man Sleeps (Original version) (The Smith Quartet, Kevin Volans, Robert Hill, Margriet Tindemans, Robin Schuikowsky, CD, Landor, 1990)
• 'Norwegian Wood: Happiness is a Warm Gun' (Lennon, arr. Volans) (Aki Takahashi, CD, EMI, 1991)
• String Quartet No. 2: 'Hunting Gathering' (Kronos Quartet, CD, Elektra Nonesuch, 1991)
• String Quartet No. 1: 'White Man Sleeps' (Kronos Quartet, CD, Elektra Nonesuch, 1992)
• String Quartet No. 3: 'The Songlines' (3rd movement) (Balanescu Quartet, CD, Argos, 1994)
• String Quartet No. 2: 'Hunting Gathering', String Quartet No. 3: 'The Songlines' (Balanescu Quartet, CD, Decca/Argo, 1994)
• String Quartet No. 5: 'Dancers on a Plane', String Quartet No. 4: 'The Ramanujan Notebooks', Movement for String Quartet (The Duke Quartet, CD, Collins Classics, 1994)
• Mbira (Kevin Volans Ensemble, CD, WDR World Network Recording, 1995)
• White man Sleeps (Guitar version of Dance No. 4) (Tilman Hoppstock, CD, Signum, 1995) Into Darkness (Sequenza, CD, Neuma, 1998)
• This is How it is, Walking song, Leaping Dance, Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, Untitled (Netherlands Wind Ensemble, cond. Wim Steinmann and Daniel Harding, CD, Chandos, 1999)
• Cicada, Duets (Mathilda Hornsveld, Jill Richards, CD, Black Box, 2000)
• This is How it is (Netherlands Wind Ensemble, cond. Wim Steinmann, CD, CMC, 2001)
• String Quartet No. 2: 'Hunting; Gathering', String Quartet No. 6, String Quartet No. 1: 'White Man Sleeps' (The Duke Quartet, CD, Black Box, 2002)
• White Man Sleeps (Guitar Quartet Version) (Dublin Guitar Quartet, CD, Grelslate Records, 2005)
• Piano Trio (Fidelio Trio, CD, NMC, 2008)
• Walking Song (David Adams, CD, All Write Music, 2008)
• Akrodha, Asange, She Who Sleeps with a Small Blanket (Jonny Axelsson, CD, 2008)
• The Partenheimer Project (Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, CD, Ikon Gallery/Kunstmuseum Bonn, 2008)
• Four Guitars (Dublin Guitar Quartet, CD, CMC, 2009)

Filmography

• Dance Films by Adam Roberts (Duke Quartet, Kevin Volans, DVD, The Jonathan Burrows Group, 1995)
• Zeno at 4am. (Sontonga Quartet, Pumeza Matshikiza, Lwazi Ncube, William Kentridge, DVD, Marian Goodman Gallery, 2002)
• Evidenti: A Film Conceived By Sylvie Guillem (Duke Quartet, DVD, NVC Arts, 1995)

Selected Compositions

Stage Works

• Correspondences, Dance Opera (1990)
• The Man with Footsoles of Wind, Chamber opera (1993)

Orchestra Works

• One Hundred Frames (1991)
• Concerto for Double Orchestra (2001)
• Strip-Weave for Orchestra (2002–03)
• Symphony: Daar Kom die Alibama (2010)

Soloist with Orchestra

• Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments (1995)
• Cello Concerto (1997)
• Trio Concerto (2005)
• Piano Concerto No. 2 'Atlantic Crossing' (2006)
• Piano Concerto No. 3 (2010)
• Chakra for 3 percussionists and Orchestra (2011)
• Piano Concerto no. 4 (2014)
• Concerto for Uilleann Pipes and large Orchestra (2016/17)
• Concerto for solo Percussion and ensemble (2012)

Chamber Music

• Matepe (1980)
• White Man Sleeps (1982)
• Walking Song (1984)
• Leaping Dance (1984)
• Kneeling Dance (1984 rev. 1987)
• String Quartet No. 1 'White Man Sleeps' (1986)
• String Quartet No. 2 'Hunting: Gathering'(1987)
• String Quartet No. 3 'The Songlines' (1988 rev. 1993)
• Chevron (1990)
• Cicada (1994)
• String Quartet No. 5 'Dancers on a Plane' (1994)
• Untitled (1996)
• String Quartet No. 6 (2000)
• 1000 bars (2002)
• Chakra for 3 percussionists (2003)
• Piano Trio (2002, rev. 2005)
• Shiva Dances (2006)
• The Partenheimer Project (2007)
• Mr. Handel's Return (2008)
• Violin: Piano (2008)
• Viola: Piano (2008)
• Cello: Piano (2009)
• Trumpet, Vibe, Cello, Piano (2009)
• No Translation (2009)
• Piano Trio No. 2 (2009)
• String Quartet no. 11 (2013)
• Looping Point (2012)
• Turning Point (2013)
• Calefaccion (2013)
• Matepe for Calefax (2013)
• 7 Flutes (2014)
• Abhaya (2014)
• 7 Bass Winds (2015)
• 4 Marimbas (2015)
• String Quartet no. 12 (2015)
• perc : piano 1 (2015)
• Akrodha 3 (2015)
• for Bob (2015)
• perc : piano 2 (2016)
• C.Roll.A.eS.H. (2016)
• cello:piano 2 (2016)
• Spoor (2017)
• Piano Trio no. 3 (2017)
• Seven Clarinets and One Flute (2017)
• clarinet:violin:piano (with CPE) (2017)
• Blackbird:Blackbird 1–4 for 2 pianos (2018)

Solo Instrumental

• clarinet:solo (2015)
• L'Africaine (2016)

Solo Percussion

• She Who Sleeps with a Small Blanket (1985)
• Asanga (1997)
• Akrodha (1998)

Solo Piano

• Three Structural Etudes (2004)
• Three Rhythmic Etudes (2003)
• Piano Etudes Nos. 7 & 8 (2008)
• Piano Etude No. 9 (2008)
• 3 Books of Piano pieces for 'Young' Players (2012)
• PMB Impromptu (2014)
• Piano Etude No. 10 (2015, withdrawn)
• Piano Etude No. 11 (2015, rev. 2018)
• Piano Etude No. 12 (2015, rev. 2018)
• Marabi Nights (2016)
• 53,73369155794372 notes a second, for Clare for midi keyboard (2016)

Vocal Works

• Gloso a lo Divino (2006)
• Canciones del Alma (2009)
• 3 Xhosa songs (2012)
• The Mountain that Left (2013)

Images for kids

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  Volans (standing, 2nd from right, with composer Mary Jane Leach (front row standing, 3rd from left), 2015 in Cologne