Siku njema
For Solo Recorder and Recorder Orchestra.
Score and eleven Parts.
Siku njema is Kisuaheli and means The Great Day. It is my first piece for solo recorder and recorder orchestra and was inspired by my visit to the NYRO (National Youth Recorder Orchestra) concert in York in the summer of 2015.
The solo recorder plays three different recorders - sopranino, bass and alto - during the piece, and there are three different themes. The first is played by the orchestra at the beginning; it is about the feeling in the early morning of the great day when you wake up and imagine that it has arrived and what is going to happen now. The second theme is presented by the sopranino in its first appearance; it is about celebrating the Great Day with your friends and family and your loved one. The third theme is again played by the orchestra; it describes the moment in the end of the day, when you step out on the balcony, terrace or garden, alone, looking at the moon and the stars, thinking about your life, remembering the wonderful things that happened, that you enjoyed, and that will not come back.
I wish to thank the Recorder Orchestra Berlin, their conductors Sylvia Rosin and Irmhild Beutler and the brillant soloist Salomé Stühler for the terrific premiere in the Paulus Church Berlin on November 5th. It was indeed a great day for me - and a wonderful present for my 50th birthday five days before.
This is a fantastic recording of Siku njema from the recorder orchestra Picobella, conducted by Daniel Koschitzki, who also plays the solo: