Concerts at the Prescot Festival 2009

There were two events at Prescot Festival featuring composers of the NWCA:

1. World premiere of Kevin George Brown's “Cold Blows The Wind” at Prescot Methodist Centre on June 20th., commissioned for the Festival.  Performers were Meriel Cunningham [mezzo-soprano], Helen Temperley [viola], Robert Howard [bassoon]

2. Concert by the Fell Clarinet Quartet [Helen Bywater, Colin Blamey, Marianne Rawles and Lenny Sayers]

works were as below :

[mp3s of the performances can be heard where underlined]

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Graham Marshall

SQUIRRELS RUN ALONG THE FENCE TOP

This piece seeks to capture something of the effect the sighting of squirrels from my study window have on me in this little, streamlined piece with its non-stop interweaving of wispy musical motifs, its occasional hints of melody, its regular feats of harmonic synchronisation, and its forwards and backwards structure.

Graham Marshall was born in Birmingham in and read Music at Durham. He made a post-graduate study of the structural functions of harmony in the music of Schoenberg and composers of the Second Viennese School, the influence of which he believes to be felt in his more serious works.

Now retired from being Vicar of St. Luke, Chadderton. He lives in Rochdale, where he has recently founded the Rochdale Light Orchestra, whose aim is to provide local musicians with an opportunity to rehearse and perform good music of a light-hearted nature of all styles.

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David Golightly

PRELUDE AND FUGUE I, FUGUE II

The Preludes and Fugues are part of a series of five transcriptions for clarinet quartet taken from the piano preludes and fugues on the DG codes composed in 2007-8. Since 1980 I have used the DG codes combined with the use of the Fibonacci series so beloved of Bartok. Use of these devices, not only provides structural and harmonic unity, but also clear stylistic identity.

David Golightly was born in County Durham and studied composition with Richard Steinitz at Huddersfield University. His music has been performed as far afield as America, Germany, Poland and Russia. Much of David’s serious music is recorded and can be obtained from Modrana Music Publishers/Promotions Ltd. The First Symphony, now aptly named, The Middlesbrough Symphony , was recorded and promoted in partnership with Middlesbrough Football Club and was dedicated to their chairman Steve Gibson.

David is a former chairman of the NWCA and was also one of the classical representatives for the PRS Advisory Group, established to assist the company review its public performance and broadcast policy.

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David W Solomons

TANTS FRAYLACHS

A jolly dance in four time Klezmer style blending various melodies in Jewish modes, with a sort of oompah theme tying the whole thing together and occasionally dipping into snatches of the folksong "Where's your momma gone".

FOLKSONG WEDDING

This is based on 5 British folksongs, one for each movement but all returning to give their final fling at the wedding in movement 5.

The first is "A keeper would a hunting go, and under his coat his carried a bow" in which the accompanying clarinets recite the mantra "run away, run away my deer!" as the tune progresses.

The second is a short and sweet arrangement of "My love is like a red red rose", a song often sung by the composer's father as he washes the dishes! Funny what inspires you!

The third is based on the "Ballad of green broom", made famous by many composers over the years. The father gets his lazy son up out of bed to cut broom, this is only way he's going to get him out to earn money, and of course to meet girls!

The fourth is based on "Green grow the rushes oh!" and the fifth is based on Mhairi's wedding, a lovely and simple melody from the island of Lewis which accommodates all the other tunes in the final wedding fling.

Make your own story up from the whole sequence! "

David W. Solomons began his musical life quite late - playing the violin at 13, progressing to classical guitar by his twenties, and on to singing countertenor in various church and cathedral settings up to recent times, all of which have informed his compositional style. His works have been as far afield as Ireland, the UK, the USA, Latvia, Germany, Italy and Mexico.

His works are published by Da Capo Music Ltd in the UK, Zimbel in the USA, Musik Fabrik in France and Les Productions d'Oz in Canada. Many of them can be heard online at www.dwsolo.com and seen in video form on YouTube (user name dwsolo).

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Colin Bayliss

PLAYTIME: arranged for clarinet quartet from The Children of Prague (B159)

Composer's note:-

After a performance by the Fell Clarinet Quartet of a piece which needed the clarinet in C, I looked to see if the second movement of my early chamber symphony The Children of Prague [B6] was suitable for arrangement, as this uses the C clarinet as a deliberate attempt to replicate the sound of the rustic folk song. Finding this indeed suitable, it was arranged in March 2009 and is dedicated to the Fell Clarinet Quartet.

The piece is made up of a simple children's tune which is developed through more agitated episodes, culminating in a lullaby which is repeated to end the piece.

Colin Bayliss was born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire in 1948 and is the current Chairman of the NWCA. His life-long love of music led him to compose from an early age and he now has a catalogue of over 150works. As well as writing music himself, he has also compiled annotated catalogues of the works of Anthony Hedges and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. CDs of his piano music played by David Martin, the complete organ music played by Ronald Frost and the highly acclaimed six string quartets played by the Lochrian Ensemble are available on the New Century Classics label.

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David Forshaw

FROM SOUTHERN SKIES

This piece, originally performed by Tubalaté (for tuba quartet) seems to sit equally well, perhaps better, for clarinets, and with a few adjustments, this is the version to be heard tonight. Based on a recent visit to New Zealand and Australia , it is one of a whole raft of pieces that I have written to celebrate my other obsession to music, astronomy. The four movements demonstrate, with a slight tongue-in-cheek on occasion, aspects of constellations which can only be observed from southern latitudes, as follows:-

Lupus, the wolf. The instruments scamper around in packs and sit howling and tend to frighten the life out of one.

Pavo, the Peacock Like a sort of Chorale Prelude, the Peacock theme, which came to fame in Kodaly’s variations, gets a single airing in this very slow piece.

Musca, the Fly As can be expected the music buzzes around, and try to catch it if you can. As with flies, the music continually stops for a second then buzzes off again.

Dorado, the Swordfish. This is the only piece which tries to encapsulate a particular aspect of this constellation, for within it lies the nearest galaxy to ourselves. It is known as the Large Magellanic Cloud and its breadth and majesty are hopefully mirrored in this final movement

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David Beck

SALFORD KEYS

I. Allegro II. Andantino semplice III. Allegro non troppo

Thinking that other members of the NWCA were likely to offer modernistic pieces for this concert, retired orchestral violinist David Beck (b.1941) elected to compose here in a somewhat retro style. The finale is a ragtime, whilst the opening was intended as a reminder of the "big band" sounds of the Glen Miller era. Between these two is an Hitchcockian slow number with spooky undertones. The overall aim was to showcase the sound of a clarinet quartet (here with E flat and Bass) rather than to attempt profundity.

In his youth David Beck joined the Hythe Town Military Band (pronounced 'oithe tayn mil'ry baynd) on the clarinet. This experience of the instrument was a great help in the composition of the piece. Most passages should lie under the fingers!

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Trevor Siemens

EMPTY CHAMBERS

I. Black Room - lighthouse/zodiac

II. Red Rooom - marsyas

Originally written for string quartet, this piece draws its inspiration from a number of exhibitions and installations by artists Tacita Dean, James Turrell and Volker Straebel, which quietly but incessantly force the audiences’ focus onto small, ever-changing detail. The two movements share, at their core, an ongoing exploration of medieval melodies.

Trevor Siemens was born in Canada. It was not until he was well

established in medical training that he discovered opera and decided to pursue

a living as a composer. This led him east, to study music at McGill University in Montréal and then further east to complete a Master’s degree in Manchester and a PhD with Geoffrey Poole in Bristol.

He is now rather well settled in Whitworth, near Rochdale.