LANDSCAPES - Parts & Score, TEST PIECES (Major Works)
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Cat No.JM31090 Price
£59.95 Composer / arranger: Stuart Johnson Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works)
Previously set as both Fourth & Youth Section testpieces.
Landscapes was commissioned by BBC Radio Stoke to mark the twenty-first birthday of the station. The music reflects not only the urban areas of Stoke and Newcastle but also the Staffordshire Moorlands and the Plain of South Cheshire, the areas served by the radio station. It is in four sections.
The Composer writes: ‘The first part, subtitled ‘The Roaches, is evocative of the craggy rocks so often shrouded in mist which rise dramatically out of the moors north of Leek. The next section is called ‘From Harishill Bank’. No-one who has stood and looked across the Vale of Etruria from this vantage point could fail to be impressed by this industrial landscape. It is a view which has changed considerably in recent years and my perspective perhaps remembers an earlier time, before the Festival Park, when Shelton Bar was in full production and dominating both earth and sky with the glare of the blast furnaces.
Bignall Hill lies between Chesterton and Audley and when standing at the top by the needle-like monument now somewhat truncated, a magnificent panorama of the lush pasturelands of South Cheshire opens up. The third part of “Landscapes” tries to capture this pastoral richness.
The finale is entitled ‘Up Hanley’ and reflects the hustle and bustle of what has become the centre of the Potteries The music uses themes from the other three movements to create this activity reflecting the way that people from all parts of the area travel into Hanley for shopping and entertainment.”
