![]() ![]() The concerto was commissioned by the Orchestra of the Swan, and is dedicated to Simon Desbruslais, who initiated the composition, and to Robert Saxton and Tessa Cahill, whose encouragement provided the starting-point for this composition. The other point concerns the percussion, which in a note in the score is requested to be placed, if possible, at the front of the platform next to, or near, the trumpet soloist, since thepercussion part is at times in the nature of an obbligato. In the slow section, the music pays what I hope is a discreet homage to his jazz style. One is that for the slow section, the soloist uses a Flugelhorn, that beautiful instrument beloved of brass bands and treated symphonically with great respect and sympathy by Vaughan Williams-it was also the instrument employed by Miles Davis, another musician whom I greatly admire. Two aspects of the instrumentation should be mentioned. At the close, the trumpet solo has the last word (or the last note). This is linked to the final quick section by a short 'quasi cadenza' for the trumpet solo and bongos, and in the finale the music is rhythmic, once again accumulating through the juxtaposition of various overlapping strands. In the central slow section which follows without a break, there is at first an almost static mood, inner life staying below the surface, until at length a complex theme rises, initially, from cellos and basses and eventually provides a full string texture. So the opening quick movement’s music is quicksilver and mercurial, with much celebratory material as well as overlapping patterns and a gradual increase in density-though there are also moments of chamber-music writing as well. The Trumpet Concerto La Primavera is so-called because the initial impulse for the piece came from considering two aspects of the coming of Spring: the exuberance and vitality of burgeoning new growth, and the flowering (literally!) of the new or refreshed life as it expands. The musical material of the piccolo trumpet and ensemble resonate in unison as the work opens, pull gradually apart towards the centre and find resolution as the work concludes. Opaque and Opaque Resonance are based on the darkness of the night, whilst Cerulean is a reflection on the serene, blue sky of the day. Skyspace is constructed in seven miniatures, with each one depicting a varying sky colour:Īurum and Aurum Resonance are both inspired by the warm, golden colours of the descending sun, whilst Light Iridescent and Dark Iridescent portray the flickering light found before dawn and dusk respectively. Whilst the perceived sky colour has provided the stimulus for my work, it was not my intention to portray physical colour, rather the imagined colour of the mind’s eye-with the music being composed and constructed in the manner of colours, through the delicate layering and juxtaposition of various textures and timbres. Skyspace draws its inspiration from the kaleidoscopic ‘celestial vaulting’ experienced within a James Turrell skyspace, where temporal and methodical exposure to shifting sky colours through an aperture engages the observer with the rotation of the earth, making both colour and light almost palpable. His words could not resonate any more succinctly than with my own experiences of colour, since I am highly sensitive to both colour and light, and have a synaesthetic approach to composition with much of my music written in response to visual artworks. The artist is the hand which plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul'. Colour is the key-board, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. In his book Concerning the Spiritual in Art, Kandinsky writes: 'Colour is a power that directly influences the soul.
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