Cat No. JM38628
Price £75.00
Composer: Martin Ellerby
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works)

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Composer’s programme notes:

TRISTAN ENCOUNTERS is derived form Wagner’s Prelude to his opera Tristan and Isolde and comprises a series of tableaux - mood pictures which alternate between a romantic idiom and tritone-style aggressive music. In essence it is about the tempestuous aspects of relationships so, at times, the mood-swings are quite severe. It contains quasi-quotations and some definite quotes from Wagner’s Prelude. This is not to suggest that this piece is anything other than of our time, but rather that it is the past that provides us with our future. The work is cast as a prelude and an ensuing set of fourteen variations (I use the word transfigurations as this was a key part of Wagner’s thinking). Sometimes the transfigurations are venj brief and it is not essential for audiences to be aware of their start or finish - it is all meant to be played as a continuous piece and this is the challenge for conductors. I am sure there is something of all our experiences in this work—which ones are yours?

Performance notes:
In order to realise the percussion parts, care will need to be taken in the placement of some of the instruments, as the work requires some swift changes only possible by using the same sticks. With regard to mutes, I have deliberately not specified which kind is to be used at any given point, so a degree ofpersonal choice can be agreed between the players and conductor. Finally, with reference to tempi, I have placed ‘circa’ before any metronome indications—this is to give a degree of flexibility to enable conductors to shape the overall impression of the work within their own concept ofthe structure.

Tristan Encounters was commissioned by Philip Biggs and Richard Franklin (with funds provided by the Foundation for Sport and the Arts), for the 1999 All England Masters Brass Band Championship.

The world premiere performance: Sunday 30 May 1999 at the Corn Exchange, Cambridge. The work is dedicated to Rodney Newton, in friendship.