I am very fortunate to have been commissioned by Carl Battishill and the Plymouth Community Band to write a new work for wind band in celebration of their 50th anniversary.
Carl and the PCB have actually performed a number of my piece, including: Danse Moods, Myth, Voodoo, and Winter’s First Whisper. When discussing the piece, Carl was clear that he didn’t want a ballad or anything celebratory. This was to be a piece that would “..add to the world of band literature. Something that gets played and played.” He then went on to bring up Russian Christmas Music by Alfred Reed and the impact it has on players and audiences.
That’s not intimidating in the least.
Carl wanted a piece 8-10 minutes that was geared towards the medium-advanced level; something collegiate. While the piece will be premiered in May, the deadline for delivery is March 21st. Today is March 1st. 21 days and counting!
After more discussing, a title or “concept” was decided on. The title of the piece will be Dark Energy and will be based on the hypothetical form of energy of the same name. Feel free to read up on it!
I will do my best to blog every day about the progress of the piece. Who knows, I may post some sample pages and/or small snippets of the piece. Maybe my readers (all 4 of you) can spot some mistakes and help me out! ;-p
Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for me to bury my head pencils and staff paper!