Rain, Steam and Speed : Symphonic Study for Brass Band
- Submitting institution
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University of Bristol
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 145992246
- Type
- J - Composition
- Month
- -
- Year
- 2017
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- Yes
- Additional information
- c.13’ symphonic study for brass band, a triple commission from the Cory Band (UK), Eikanger-Bjorsvik Mussiklag (Norway) and James Madison University Brass Band (Virginia, USA).
A new approach to collective virtuosity in the brass band movement. The Brass Band movement is strongly committed to the development of the musical and technical skills of its members; indeed the contesting scene is predicated on the objective assessment of those skills. This work focusses on a new aspect: the navigation of an unstable pulse. While metric modulation is a staple of much music from the past century, the creation of a work that runs steadily across an extended timescale from the slowest setting on a traditional metronome to the fastest is a novel concept, not just in brass band literature, but in musical literature generally. The work was partly developed in workshops with the Cory Band; the end was radically transformed following workshop readings and feedback
The metric instability of the design brings special challenges. Composer: an exceptional level of control of almost every musical parameter. Conductor: an absolute command of pulse, both relative and absolute. Musicians: the flexibility and awareness of each other to be able to maintain ensemble across an ever-shifting pulse. The speeds in the early performances tended to ‘plateau’ at certain points before transitioning to the next one, suggesting that developing a smooth and continuous temporal transition will require extended study and repeated performances of the work.
Premieres by commissioning bands: Royal Northern College of Music Brass Band Festival, 28 January 2018 by Cory Band (broadcast on BBC Radio Three, 31 January 2018), conducted by Philip Harper; Norway, 7 October 2018; James Madison University 38th Contemporary Music Festival, Harrisonburg, Virginia, 24 October 2018. Published by Bardic Edition/Kirklees Music, 2017.
Output: score, audio recording
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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