Wychavon Sketches
Wychavon Sketches was commissioned in 2018 by the Wychavon Festival of Brass, in-part celebration of reaching their thirty-year milestone.
The work, in four clear movements, seeks to evoke images of the Worcestershire countryside, utilising the natural melodious quality and multifaceted colour-tones of the brass band sound world. In many ways, the structure and language draw intentional inspiration from Worcestershire’s most famous musical exponent Sir Edward Elgar, in particular his own foray into the medium, Severn Suite of 1930.
I. Jousts
As with many rural areas of Britain, Wychavon and Worcestershire featured considerably in the shaping of British political history, with significant battles at Evesham (1265) and Worcester (1651). This opening movement looks to acknowledge this history, with a distinct renaissance quality that evokes the medieval; chivalry, nobility, battle and conquest.
II. Maypoles & Market Gardens
Following the Battle of Worcester, the future King Charles II hid in an Oak Tree to escape capture by the Roundheads. In celebration of his escape, May Day celebrations included an oak-bough carrier alongside Maypole Dancing, a fertility ritual of pagan Britain; a celebration many villages uphold today. The music in this second movement pays homage to this tradition, utilising the sound of folk-song and unashamedly taking inspiration from the music of Gustav Holst, notably his Finale (The Dargason) from St. Paul’s Suite (1913). The fertile Vale of Evesham remains a prime market gardening area which is signified musically through the broad exploration of colour and texture and the repetitious peels of Evesham’s Bell Tower.
III. The River Avon
The River Avon is an element of this countryside which has remained constant in the evolution of the landscape around it. Its significance in the area’s history is acknowledged by way of its thematic material appearing in the other three movements either verbatim, as in the introductory material or reprise as the work draws to conclusion, or in a developed state; the theme of both movement II and IV are derivatives of the motives found within the river theme. Similarly, ideas from the other movements reappear within this third movement, for example the haunting variation of the Jousts theme at letter P.
Iv. Contest Day
This spritely and light-hearted finale reflects the main function of the commissioning body, with the music seeking to convey the excitement and anticipation of ‘contest day.’ A tour-de-force that exposes soloists and family-groups within the ensemble in an attempt to secure the all-important 1st place. With adjudicator’s whistles, early entries and deflated hopes, the final result brings the work to its abrupt conclusion.