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The Torchbearer: Symphonic Variations on a Theme by Eric Ball

The Torchbearer was commissioned by Kapitol Promotions and the Federation of Australasian Brass Bands as the test piece for the 2009 National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain and the FABB Open Contest respectively. It was first performed in the Royal Albert Hall London on October 17 2009 with the partner performance taking place in Brisbane Australia one week later.

The work is intended as a stylistic homage to brass band composer Eric Ball whilst simultaneously reflecting upon the advances in instrumental design and developments in scoring which have taken place since the period he was active as a composer (from the 1920s through circa 1970s). Given that the function of the National Championships is to identify the elite of the finalists the commissioned score must reflect the prevailing technical (and musical) standards. Despite Ball’s continuing popularity his music is perceived to be not technically difficult enough to make this distinction. In addition, percussion has become an intergral part of the brass band with a wide array of orchestral influences prevalentg.

For example, performance developments on the euphonium by players such as David Childs and Stephen Mead have resulted in a gradual shift in bore size of the instrument, yielding a new range of possibilities in both register and character of sound. Having previously collaborated with both players on a number of projects I was able to develop these possibilities further within The Torchbearer in the form of pedal notes, extreme intervallic leaps and extended high registers outwith the scope of Ball’s scores.

Articles/Reviews

Iwan Fox

http://www.4barsrest.com/reviews/cds/cd442.asp#.UZC8Khx-DiA

Kenneth Crookston

http://www.worldofbrass.com/reviews.php?id=21419

Gordon Cox

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=z0dHVT37YRQC&pg=PA195&lpg=PA195&dq=the+torchbearer+peter+graham&source=bl&ots=CZ6F6BLiMw&sig=RPPjm3Z4eVAH5Fy7PATfxYJTR5Y&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VLyQUfihEYfEsgaa4IGgDA&ved=0CHQQ6AEwDjgK#v=onepage&q=the%20torchbearer%20peter%20graham&f=false

Recordings

Fodens Band

http://www.fodensband.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=114&osCsid=608f159745f7aacea1aaa04a648df835

Black Dyke Band

https://worldofbrass.7dgtl.com/releases/730526

Black Dyke Band

https://worldofbrass.7dgtl.com/releases/724836