An old Scottish bandmaster used to refer to the trombone section as Gwackomeres. After years of this, I asked him why he did it. So in his Scottish accent, and miming a trombone slide going in and out, he said ‘Go awa, come ‘ere, go awa, come ‘ere’. This is my guess at a correct spelling! The piece is very…
Trombonists reading this will all know of Andre Lafosse, who wrote 2 study manuals in 1921. In 1946 he wrote a third, and all 3 are regarded as excellent material on which to learn the entire range of trombone technique. In the third book there is a set of 12 studies, often used as exam and audition pieces to this…
Written after a visit to a Concentration Camp in East Poland (see also the ‘Pieces of Writing’ section). If you want a moment of utter gravity within your orchestral concert, this is it.
Or Bombasticity II, takes us back to the beginning of the recital. Genesis did an album in 1979 in which the opening returns at the end, and the way they did it always gripped me. This is a similar effort, to close this cyclic recital. So after drifting through the sky above the clouds, we sink right back to a…
The Scourged Back is the name of a photograph, taken in 1863. It's of the lacerated back of a Louisiana slave known as Whipped Peter, you can imagine how awful this photograph is. I can't show it here. This is the story of his escape from his plantation and arrival in Baton Rouge, where he joined the Union army in…
An African legend, of a young girl, her capture and escape from an evil ogre, and the hideous death inflicted on him by the girl's father. Lots of detailed storytelling, many scenes and atmospheres, and 'curtain calls' from the main characters at the end!
1. Fury. 2. All You Need is... 3. Moods of Echoes. The three are not really a suite, but work best each on their own as solo pieces with three very different inspirations behind them. Plus postage, they're £10 each one, or £25 if you want to play all three. Bargain!
There’s a glorious picture of Glastonbury Tor, and I’ve yet to find the photographer who took it. This piece is entirely based on this one incredible image, mostly bright orange, of the sunset mists across the fields, rooks rising from foreground trees, and the magnificent monument itself, just rising on its tor above the clouds.
This is for chamber orchestra, and was commissioned by the City of London Sinfonia for their brilliant 1st trumpet player, Nick Betts. I’ve known Nick a long time and I know his distinctive playing very well. So that made it easier and more satisfying to write for him, as I knew pretty much exactly how he would sound. A few…
The third of my initial forays into this style and ensemble, this portrays a hot, shimmering day, probably in a desert, where you can see the heatwaves hovering over the sand. The double bass is an unlikely soloist, accompanied by tinkling, drifting piano, up to its highest note this time. The piece grasps reality for a while in the middle,…
Here is a medley, a chain of waltzes by Icelandic composer John Artasssun, after discovering the genius melody-writing of the King of the Waltz, Johann Strauss (the Younger), during a trip to Vienna in 1890. For more on John Artasssun, see below.
This shouldn't mess with the marcher's feet, but it might, as the accompanying figure is often in 3/4 Waltz time. There's a slightly G&S-style middle section (I changed the traditional order round a bit in this one) and then the melodramatic bass tune, which is a version of The Blue Danube. Lots of fun.
I used to live in Walthamstow, and this is a short, light piece, the most traditionally-brass-band I’ve written, with a catchy theme and middle section. What makes it Walthamstow is the postcode bridge section, where during its brief four bars, 17 Es are heard on the flugel and xylophone.
Written for a performance at an International Trombone Federation bash in 2006, for Katy Price and Christian Jones, shortly before they got married. Based on their initials, and the imminent wedding, the theme takes its cue from the song about Casey Jones, the American pioneer.
