Output details
35 - Music, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts
University of Salford
In League with Extraordinary Gentlemen: Concerto for Euphonium
In League with Extraordinary Gentlemen was commissioned by Steven Mead in collaboration with the Osaka Municipal Symphonic Band and first performed by them with conductor Kazuhiko Komatsu in The Symphony Hall Osaka, Japan, on June 6, 2008. Steven Mead has subsequently recorded the work with Tomoko Sawano (piano) while transcriptions for brass band and symphony orchestra have been premiered by David Thornton with the Black Dyke Band (RNCM Festival of Brass England) and Jonathon Ramsey with the Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra (Concerto Competition Final, Sydney Australia). Further performances have taken place in Norway (Norwegian Brass Band Championships, Bergen 2010), the USA (Bethel College, Kansas, 2010) and the Netherlands (Gouden Spiker Festival 2010).
The piece explores links between narrative structure and compositional form, and also integrates music technology into the brass band performance medium. The use of digital delay within the acoustic euphonium has been co-developed with euphonium soloist Steven Mead and myself to explore and alter the core euphonium sound. The initial idea was extended in the opening bars to a cadenza-like passage with opportunities for the soloist to manipulate the field of sounds. This collaboration has had further outcomes as subsequent performers of the work have each put their own stamp on the sections which use digital delay; indeed for one high profile performer, David Thornton, the technique has become a significant element within his own research degree.
Reviews
Iwan Fox
http://www.4barsrest.com/reviews/cds/cd371.asp#.UZDOoRx-DiA
Kenneth Crookston
http://www.euphonium.net/home.php?newsID=34
Tim Reynish (saxophone version)
http://www.timwatsonsaxophonist.com/review-tim-reynish.html
Recordings
Steven Mead with Tomoko Sawano (piano)
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/audacious/id305055282
Osaka Municipal Symphonic Band
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/a-symphony-of-fables/id308297360
Video
Steven Mead (premiere performance – finale)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj35hmla8bk
Texas Tech
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/17547962
Alastair Penman (saxophone version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W8Mi2VVoCk
