Dreamtide

Composer

Christopher Hussey: christopherhussey.co.uk

General Information

Year: 2012 (woodwind version)

Duration: 14 minutes

Publisher: Unpublished (Further details directly from Christopher Hussey)

Instrumentation

Flute I-III (Part II doubling piccolo)

Oboe I-II

Bb Clarinet I-III

Bb Bass Clarinet

Bb Contrabass Clarinet

Eb Alto Saxophone I-II

Bb Tenor Saxophone

Eb Baritone Saxophone

Bassoon I-II

Contrabassoon

Programme notes

Dreamtide was originally written for mixed choir, with a text inspired by a selection of poems about or including the theme of dreams by Lord Byron, William Blake, Edgar Allan Poe and Amy Levy. This arrangement was commissioned by Shea Lolin and the Bloomsbury Music Group. This version received its first performance by the Bloomsbury Woodwind Ensemble, conducted by Shea Lolin, at St. John’s Waterloo, London, on 22 March 2013.

“Sleep hath its own world,    
And a wide realm of wild reality,    
And dreams in their development have breath,    
And tears, and tortures, and the touch of joy.”    

from ‘The Dream’ by Lord Byron (1816)

The work opens with rhythmic breathing to evoke the sense of a dream with pointed, bell like entries which contribute to close harmony. Melodic fragments enter organically and build to the texture. A faster section begins, pronounced through a motor rhythm which pulses brightly. Earlier harmonies are sweetly placed against this pulsating figure. New instrumentations give colour and nuance and the section builds slowly but surely with the motor rhythm becoming more and more imposing. This is sharply contrasted with a return to the still opening with no more than a quartet of players at any one time. A tenor saxophone weaves in a quasi-jazz solo before the ensemble arrives at a homophonic tutti which rises in volume with two marked chords at the climax. The piece ends in the same way it began with close harmony, scattered melodies and a return to the rhythmic breathing.

Performances

Bloomsbury Woodwind Ensemble and BWE2 (Shea Lolin, conductor) - 22 March 2013

Recording for Twisted Skyscape album (see below) on 26 March 2014.

Discography

Recorded by the Czech Philharmonic Wind Ensemble conducted by Shea Lolin. Details at www.twistedskyscape.com