Postcards: Play, Sing, Dance

Composer

Jeffery Wilson: www.jefferywilson.co.uk

General Information

Year: 2012

Duration: 23 minutes

Publisher: Unpublished (Further details directly from Jeffery Wilson)

Instrumentation

Piccolo

Flute I-II

Oboe I-II

Bb Clarinet I-III

Bb Bass Clarinet

Bb Contrabass Clarinet

Eb Alto Saxophone I-II

Bb Tenor Saxophone I-II

Eb Baritone Saxophone I-II

Bassoon I-II

Contrabassoon

Antiphonal group of Flute I-III and Bb Clarinet I-III

Programme notes

Jeffery Wilson writes:

Postcards (Play, Sing, Dance) is a kind of musical travelogue of some of the places and sounds I have encountered and enjoyed in a creative musical life thus far. We begin with PLAY and an Arabic Saba followed quickly by a Middle Eastern inspired Clarinet duo. This section is completed with a trip to Armenia and that evocative instrument – the Duduk, encapsulated on the saxophone. SING begins with a folk song which in its Aeolian nature could easily come from Brittany, Wales or even southern Ireland. The testosterone fuelled ‘low voices’ of the next section represents for me all of those more ‘lusty’ vocal music experiences – perhaps the Red Army Chorus or that Bulgarian Orthodox Choir. For the last part of this movement I borrow from a Zulu song I once heard (just the first bar or so) in celebration of beer drinking! The tune lends itself rather well to canonic writing and a gospel chorale is heard as a more contemplative accompaniment. DANCE is at the heart of so much music and we begin this movement with an Indian Jhap-tal   Raga, the percussion drives the motion here and two Flutes improvise a dialogue. For our conclusion we return to Europe for a French Pavan and an English Galliard. This is the most egalitarian music of the whole work I feel since everyone has quite a bit to do.
It was a pleasure to be asked to write this piece and then to meet and work with the ensemble before putting pen to paper. Uniquely for the ensemble and in the spirit of the music there are opportunities for group and individual improvisations. Also, since the piece represents the coming together of the Bloomsbury Woodwind Ensemble with their affiliates the BWE2 there are elements of choreography symbolising the separate and group identities of the musicians.

Jeffery Wilson

Performances

Bloomsbury Woodwind Ensemble and BWE2 (Shea Lolin and David Morris, conductors) at LSO St. Luke's on 24 November 2012.