Great North Overture
- Year
- 2009
- Instrumentation
- brass band
- Duration
- 6 minutes
- Commissioned by
- Fran Harvey for the Metropolitan Silver Band 75th Anniversary
Sheet Music
Score & parts available for rental here.
Download mp3
Program Notes
The Great North Overture was commissioned by Fran Harvey for the Metropolitan Silver Band's 75th Anniversary. I am honoured and delighted to be a part of the celebration for this amazing milestone, and especially to collaborate with my former highschool teacher, who was a tremendous inspiration to me well before I had decided upon my path as a composer.
Given my background in composing some rather lengthy orchestral works, the idea of doing a short, overture-style piece appealed to me enormously. Because this was my first attempt at composing for brass band (a challenging prospect for any orchestral composer) I did not want to stray too far from the idioms that characterized the repertoire. The structure of the piece unfolds in a fairly traditional manner, with a slow introduction and a majestic coda bookending a sprightly fanfare. At the core of the piece is a lyrical melody, drawn in part from the wellspring of starry-eyed melodies that I have fallen in love with over the years.
What I wanted to convey most in this piece — particularly in the opening and closing sections — was a sense of joy and exuberance that was not exactly youthful, but suggestive of a deeper wisdom gained through age, and of peace earned through hardship. Somehow, when I tried to think of a title for this piece, this sensibility triggered an image in my mind of the vast, northern Canadian wilderness, cold and austere yet undeniably beautiful and majestic in its own way -- hence, the Great North Overture.
Performances
April 10, 2010 - Metropolitan Silver Band, conducted by Fran Harvey. Jane Mallet Theatre; St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Toronto.
November 12, 2011, 8pm - Hannaford Silver Street Band, conducted by Gillian MacKay. Metropolitan United Church, Toronto. April 12, 2012 - Hannaford Street Silver Band, conducted by Patrick Sheridan. George Weston Recital Hall, Toronto Centre for the Arts, North York.
April 3, 2013 - Hannaford Street Silver Band, conducted by Alain Trudel. Unionville Alliance Church, Markham.
July 19, 2013 - Hannaford Street Silver Band. Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts, Parry Sound.
August 8, 2013 - Hannaforfd Street Silver Band. Dominion Chalmers United Church, Ottawa.
February 19, 2017 - Hannaforfd Street Silver Band. Jane Mallet Theatre; St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Toronto.