Cat No. JM38630
Price £70.00
Composer / arranger: Martin Ellerby
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works)

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Composer’s programme notes:
Evocations is cast in four contrasting movements based on Spanish subjects. I have not used any nationalist folk elements but rather alluded to a Spanish atmosphere by means of melody, rhythm, harmony and orchestration filtered through my own listening experiences. The result is more that of an affectionate observer than of a native correspondent.

1: Harlequin Carnival is based on a painting by the Surrealist Miró. The music attempts to recreate the riotous playground of this extravagant study of disproportionate animal species engaged in a capricious dance.

2: The Death of Don Quixote is suggested by the famous novel of Cervantes and presented in the form of a funeral cortege with nostalgic glimpses at ‘what was and what might have been ‘in the great knight’s life.

3: Sueño (Dream) after a gentle poem by Lorca, provides an interlude of soft and transparent textures before the ensuing finale.
4: The Royal Hunt of the Sun which closes the work evokes the spirit of the ritual dances of Spain. The subject matter is a play by Peter Shaffer concerning the conquest of Peru by the Spanish in the 16th century: the musical outcome presents a few surprises on the way!

EVOCATIONS was commissioned by the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain whilst Martin Ellerby was its Composer-in-Residence between 1995-1996, a position supported by the Arts Council of England. The first performance was given by them under their Music Director, Roy Newsome, in the Barbican Centre, London, on 13 April 1996. This performance was broadcast on the BBC Radio 3 Series Musical Encounters on 7 May the same year.

The Brass Band Berner Oberland conducted by James Gourlay gave the first overseas performance in the Casino, Interlaken, as part of the Swiss Music Festival on 21 June 1996.
The work was also included in the 106th Season of Henry Wood Promenade Concerts performed by the original commissioning forces at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 12 August 2000, simultaneously broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.

EVOCATIONS has been commercially recorded on Compact Disc by the Williams Fairey Band conducted by James Gourlay, on the Polyphonic label.