Monet on the Embankment was commissioned by Leigh Baker for Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band's performance at Brass in Concert 2014, where it received the prize for best new composition/arrangement.

Monet on the Embankment takes Claude Monet's Houses of Parliament collection as it's inspiration, a total of nineteen canvases, which were the same scene - all studies in changing landscapes.

While the Parliament series has Westminister Palace, it is so distorted by the fog and smog that it becomes secondary as the subject - as we see not just the effect of light on objects but also the effect of light on the atmosphere itself.

It is these distortions of light that the I have aimed to create in my piece, by using muted effects, various percussion instruments, extreme registers and dynamics as well as incorporating quarter-tones to further distort the harmonic picture.  Whilst looking to the past for inspiration through Mussorgsky's 'Promenade', the music most definitely looks to the future, aiming to place the setting for Monet's masterpiece's firmly in the present.

Paul McGhee