David Fanshawe
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David Fanshawe (born 1942 in Devon, England) is an English composer and ethnomusicologist. His work is situated at the crossroads of traditional and modern music.
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[edit] Life
Educated at St George's School, Windsor Castle and Stowe School he started his career as a musician and producer for documentary films. He studied composition under John Lambert at the Royal College of Music. He became widely known with composition of choral works. Besides vocal pieces, he also composed the score for more than 50 films and TV productions.
During a ten-year odyssey across the islands of the Pacific Ocean begun in 1978, he collected several thousand hours of indigenous music, and documented the music and oral traditions of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia in journals and photographs.
He currently lives in Wiltshire in England.
[edit] Work
Fanshawe's best-known work is a mass, African Sanctus. In this piece, the Latin Mass is juxtaposed with live recordings of traditional African music, which the composer had recorded himself. The work consists of 13 movements and follows the journey of the composer through Africa. The recordings are from Egypt, the Sudan, Uganda and Kenya.
[edit] Works (selection)
- African Sanctus, a work for soprano alto tenor and bass choir, soloists, percussion and tapes
- from which The Lord's Prayer is also performed separately
- When the Boat Comes In - television score
- Flambards - television score
- Dona Nobis Pacem - A Hymn for World Peace
- Dover Castle
- Requiem for the Children of Aberfan
- The Awakening
- Planet Earth - Fanfare and March
- Serenata
- Pacific Song - Chants from the Kingdom of Tonga
