Reina-Ubangi Djembe (SP)-V/M/P

Although of Spanish nationality, and since 2002 also Dutch, I was born and raised in a former Spanish colony in West Africa called Equatorial Guinea. There I grew up listening to a strange mixture of early Stravinsky, Bartók, flamenco and a wide variety of African drumming and singing.

This combination, from both musical and existential viewpoints, probably shaped my exploration, years later, of non-western cultures, my taste for a music without frontiers or boundaries, as well as my inclination for writing music for percussion and percussive music.

Ubangi is the name of an instrument that I encountered in my native country and Djembe has become almost a symbol of African drum at this point. The title was and is in fact a tribute to my very African roots. In this composition I travel through the polyrhythms, memories and 'flavours' of the African continent - from the deserts of Morocco where Arabic melodies are harmonised with very dissonant chords, to the jungle of Equatorial Guinea whose sounds I can still hear.
- Rafael Reina

Number of Players: 6
Difficulty: Advanced

Instrumentation

Player 1: 4 Timpani, 3 wood-blocks, bell, cymbal, triangle
Player 2: Marimba (4.3 octave), floor tom, tambourine, 5 temple blocks, 2 maracas
Player 3: Vibraphone, bass drum, guiro, cymbal
Player 4: Floor tom, hi-hat, cabasa, 2 castanets, 2 snare drums, anvil
Player 5: 4 Tom-toms, 3 gongs, agogo
Player 6: 3 Congas, 2 bongos, 2 timbales, clave, cowbell