Reddy, as he writes in thecomposer’s notes precedingthe piece, this piece is a matureexample of his clazz style.

Toccata for Madiba wascommissioned by the SouthAfrican Music RightsOrganisation Endowment forthe National Arts in 1996 forform part of the firstinternational organ competitionin 1998.In this piece influences oftraditional South African musiccan be observed. Kwela andmbaqanga-styles can beobserved in separate sections.South Africa’s national anthem,Nkosi Sikelele is also quoted

What separates mbaqanga from previous styles is the straight beat. Previously urbanblack music was rhythmically swung in general

the American swing style combined with the repetitive blues-like marabi style gavebirth to mbaqanga – also referred to as ‘African jazz’ in the 1940s and a style thatReddy incorporated into his clazz style from the 1980s onwards

According to Ballantine Isicathamiya is the most important vocal style to have emergedin South Africa this century.186 Parallel to the importance of this pure vocal style, aninstrumental style called marabi developed around the time of the First World War andremained prominent throughout the second and third decades of the 20th century.187In Marabi Nights, one of the first books that explored the development and impact ofSouth African jazz, Ballantine describes it as “[a] rhythmically propulsive dance music”that draws “its melodic inspiration eclectically from a wide variety of sources, whileharmonically it rested – as did blues – upon an endlessly repeating chord”.188Furthermore, Ballantine argues that the correlation between marabi (South Africa) andblues (America) extended further in that both had influences on the societies practisingthe above genres

Worklist according to instrument

Clazz

Biography

Surendran Reddy, Master of Clazz