The Kings go Forth
This work was commissioned jointly by the Royal Air Force Music Service and an American Universities Consortium and received its world premiere during the 1996 RAF British Tour. It is scored for large symphonic wind band, with the addition of voices.
The work is a sequel to the highly successful The Sword and the Crown which was premiered in 1991 by the mass bands of the RAF (and also was an RAF commission). That work was based on music written for the Royal Shakespeare Company productions of The Plantagenets and Henry IV, parts 1 and 2 (for productions between …
Read MoreThe Sword and the Crown
In 1988 I was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company to write the music for The Plantagenets trilogy, directed by Adrian Noble in Stratford-upon-Avon. These plays take us from the death of Henry V to the death of Richard III. Later, in 1991, I wrote the music for Henry IV parts 1 and 2, again in Stratford. All of these plays are concerned with the struggle for power (the crown) through the use of force (the sword) and they portray one of the most turbulent periods in the history of the British monarchy.
This work quickly became established in the …
Read MoreFestivo
Festivo for Symphonic Wind Band was commissioned in 1985 for the 10th Anniversary of the Bolton Youth Concert Band with funds provided by the Trustee Savings Bank. It received its first performance from the Bolton Youth Concert Band, conducted by Nigel Taylor, at the Conference of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles in Kortrijk, Belgium, in July 1985
As the title suggests, it is a festive piece, exuberant in style and cast in rondo form. An introduction announces, in fragmented form, some of the melodic and rhythmic ideas. The main theme, which is light-hearted and exuberant, is …
Read MorePrelude for an Occasion
Prelude for an Occasion was one of my first works for brass band and was written in 1968 for the Black Dyke Mills Band for a recording on the Decca label. Since then it has become a popular concert opener. After a short fanfare introduction it moves into a quasi-march with a somewhat rhythmic and dissonant middle section before returning to a triumphant restatement of the opening fanfare.
This version for wind band was made in 1985 specially by Geoffrey Brand for the G&M Brand wind band series…
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