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Commissioned by Leighton Rich and Hampshire Music Service. The timeline is a western musicological device that allows us to define many of the rhythms used in sub-Saharan music. It is essentially a 12-beat pattern that can be sub-divided as 6x2, 4x3, or 3x4, which generates the polyrhythms that are common in African Music. Timelines is a continuous work made up of four contrasting sections, which are based on various aspects of African dance and choral music. The slow introduction introduces many of the rhythms that the piece is based on, and is followed by a fast section which quotes a South African hymn, Abasundu Nabamhlope. The chorale section which follows uses the hymn, Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika (Lord Bless Africa), which was written in 1897, and has since been adopted as the national anthem of several countries in Southern Africa. The final allegro section sees the drawing together of the various dance and choral elements used in the piece, with the percussion section playing the polyrhythms generated by the timeline.
(Duration - 12.5 minutes)

Timelines was first performed by Hampshire County Youth Brass band and their conductor Leighton Rich, at the Royal Festival Hall, 7th July 1998.

Publisher:The Music Salon

Recording available on Fever Fantasy - Harlequin Recording - HAR 1129 CD