VARIATIONS for Brass Band - Parts & Score, TEST PIECES (Major Works), WILFRED HEATON EDITION, Howard Snell Music
Availability Available
Cat No.JM39050 Price
£95.00 Composer: Wilfred Heaton Composer / arranger: Howard Snell Categories: TEST PIECES (Major Works), WILFRED HEATON EDITION, Howard Snell Music
Variations for brass band realised by Howard Snell.
Heaton’s final and longest brass band composition was some eight years in the making. It is the sole example of an original composition from the last decades of Heaton’s life. He completed the first four variations in full score and most of the remainder in short score. Howard Snell, to whom the work is dedicated, prepared the complete full score shortly after Heaton’s death. Heaton considered this to be more of an autobiographical document than a work for contest performance. However, the Heaton Trust has authorised various performing options which make this unique work more practical for band concerts and contests. Grade 5/6 Duration: 30 mins 08 mins ( or 9 mins with authorised cuts)
CONTENTS
Theme Legatissimo Variation 1 Grazioso Variation 2 Molto Adagio Variation 3 Vivace Variation 4 Tempo primo Variation 5 Placido Variation 6 La voce popolare I — Manche militaire Variation 7 La voce popolare II — Cantilena Variation 8 La voce popolare III —- Galop Variation 9 Grave Variation 10 Adagio (Interlude) Variation ll Threnody for Charlotte Anne Stobart Variation 12 Adagio —Allegro (Chorale)
Duration: c.30 minutes
INTRODUCTION
Without the encouragement of Howard Snell, it is doubtful whether Wilfred Heaton would have prepared the four major compositions for brass band which remain, with Contest Music, the core of his life’s work. It was Snell who conducted the premiere of Partita (originally an orchestral Suite composed in 1950), followed by the Sinfonia Concertante for comet and the Trombone Concerto (originally a work for oboe and strings completed in 1952).
In the mid-1950s Heaton’s discovery of Anthroposophy (or the Science of the Spirit as it might alternatively be called) was the catalyst for a drastic personal re-orientation including music. As he observed many decades later: ‘Since this time, whatever I’ve written for bands has been done with an alter-ego left behind in the late 40s and is evidence of the power that resides in one’s initial musical orientation’. Anthroposophy was a spiritual movement which followed the principles laid down by Rudolf Steiner. The Steiner Schools follow the same ideals.
Even in retirement, Heaton had many things to occupy his time. As Bryan Stobart, his son-in-law, observed at the composer’s funeral, ‘There were never enough hours in the day for him to fulfil his appetite for knowledge in all things and the desire to learn new creative skills. At times in his life he put the cultivation of spiritual matters before people and most certainly before composition, which became very spasmodic. Through his anthroposophical studies he developed a deeper understanding of humanity and events. He was a great comfort and strength to us following our daughter Charlotte’s death. He ended his musical silence soon afterwards and wrote his Variations partly in her memory’.
The initial request for a new brass band work came firom Howard Snell. Progress was slow and fitful. Heaton gave up on it twice. It is clear from the many messages written on the sketches that he wished Snell to flesh out the work if he was unable to finish it himself. When Heaton died he had almost completed the sketches, but had only scored up to the end of Variation 4. He left the remainder in Howard Snell’s skilful hands. The result is what amounts to a summation of Heaton’s life and times in music. Variations also reveals that in his 70s, after a gap of over forty years, he had lost little of his old creative fire.
The theme of Variations is a long, wide-ranging melody, containing all twelve semitones of the chromatic scale. From it Heaton quarries a number of thematic cells.There are 12 variations divided into three larger symphonic “movements”. Part l (Variations l to 5) is intense and passionate. Heaton composed Variation 3, as he noted on the sketch “for the speed merchants, who exist in every band!”
Part II (Variations 6 to 8) offers some light relief. He entitled these La voce popolare, revealing for the last time his love of parody and irony. Variation 6, subtitled Marche militaire, hints at the gospel song ‘Shall we gather at the river?’ and tries to turn into Johann Strauss’s Blue Danube Waltz. Variation 7, subtitled Cantilena, with its warm-hearted melody, transports us into the world of the operatic fantasy so beloved of brass band musicians. Variation 8, appropriately subtitled Galop, is composed out of popular tunes — Ilkley Moor, William Tell, a couple of nursery rhymes — with some interjections from the main theme. Heaton left this variation in a fragmentary state. It has been expertly realised by Howard Snell.
Part III (Variations 9 to 12) begins in bleak and introspective mood. Heaton originally thought of calling the enigmatic tenth variation Interlude. Variation ll is a Threnocly written in memory of his much-loved grand-daughter Charlotte Stobart. He incorporates a poignant quotation fiom the piano piece — Warum? (‘Why?’) — by Robert Schumann. This is the most traditional brass band moment in the work, with “test-piece” like cadenzas for comet and euphonium. Variation 12, for which Heaton considered the title Chorale, brings the work to a jubilant end, a paean of praise by a composer for whom the end of life here was just the beginning.
Wilfred Heaton dedicated Variations ‘to Howard Snell in admiration and gratitude’.
Theme and variations 1 to 4 were written out in full score. Variations 5 to 7 and 9 to 12 were completed in annotated pencil short score, with some indication of instrumentation. There are also many pages of sketches and drafts, including all the material for Variation 8 (Galop). Howard Snell’s realisation included the scoring of Variations 5 to 12, the adjusting of dynamic levels and the drawing together of the fragmentary Variation 8 — crucially which of its alternative endings to use. Howard Snell’s choice was made with regard to the balance and proportion of the variation and its position in the work as a whole. Towards the climax of Variation 12 (bars 538, 542 and 543), Snell has added three bars of bass figuration not in the sketch material to preserve the continuity of the line. These are given in smaller notes.
PERFORMANCE NOTE
Wilfred Heaton was aware that works of the length and substance of Variations are not easy to programme in brass band concerts, as this note to Howard Snell on a sketch page for Variation 6 makes clear: ‘I do not think you will ever be able to perform the piece. It’s more of a document than a blueprint for performance, because rehearsals for difficult, unfamiliar music are hardly possible while [a band] is being prepared for a contest. But you might keep the score among your souvenirs! I have no illusions about a performance in my life-time, if ever. But it doesn’t matter — the task is “carried out” and the sound is in my head anyway’. The first performance was given on Wednesday 16 January 2002 in the Logen Hall, Bergen, Norway by Eikanger-Bjorsvik Musikklag, conducted by Howard Snell.
It is clear fiom these remarks that Wilfred Heaton did not consider Variations to be a competition piece. However, a work like this, built out of a collection of distinct but related movements, is a prime candidate for performance in shortened form once in the public domain. Therefore the Trustees of the Wilfred Heaton Trust have sanctioned the following abridged versions:
l. Theme, Variations and Chorale
Theme Legatissimo Variation l Grazioso Variation 2 Molto Adagio Variation 3 Vivace Variation 4 Tempo primo Variation 8 La voce popolare III — Galop Variation 11 Threnody for Charlotte Anne Stobart Variation 12 Adagio —-Allegro (Chorale)
Duration: c.18 minutes
2. La voce popolare (from Variations)
Theme Legatissimo Variation 6 La voce popolare I — Marche militaire Variation 7 La voce popolare II — Cantilena Variation 8 La voce popolare III — Galop
Duration: c.8 mins 30 secs
3. La voce populare I, II and III may also be performed as separate items.
THE WILFRED HEATON EDITION
John Wilfred Heaton (1918 — 2000) was a composer of refined sensibility and technical skill, the true extent of whose creative gifts has only emerged since his death in May 2000. As his many admirers suspected, the music currently in print represents just a small part of what he actually composed. The Wilfred Heaton Edition, a joint project between Kirklees Music and the Wilfred Heaton Trust, will make available the remainder of his rich legacy of finished pieces, as well as performing editions of those works lost and/or complete in sketch form. Wilfred’s life in music was underpinned by wide-ranging interests in the arts, in philosophy, and by his strong religious background and faith. Yet at times during his long life, his creative impulse was often tested and questioned .
Born in Sheffield to Salvationist parents, his musical talents were nurtured through the Salvation Army. He began piano lessons at the age of eight. Soon after that he was learning the cornet and writing music of his own. His piano teacher, Salvationist songster Mrs. Bennett, guided him to his first musical milestone, an LRAM in piano, awarded when he was eighteen. He left school to become an apprentice in a small brass instrument manufacture and repair business in Sheffield, Cooking and Pace. Apart from war service in the RAF, he remained there for over twenty years, composing whenever he could. Heaton noted on a page of his last work, the autobiographical Variations, "I got help initially from a crippled SA musician [George Marshall], who had a very sound harmonic instinct, but who stressed contrapunial studies above all; then from a local music master who initiated me into the wider world of chamber and orchestral music; and finally, a lot later [the 1950’s] Matyas Seiber, whose instruction on Bach studies was invaluable. These are three with whom I had personal contact, but along with other inspiring composers — the scores of the 18th century German giants and the 20th century masters. It was expected that Wilfred would dedicate his musical talents to the Salvation Army, and in his own words, he continued to “do a good job” for the Army throughout his life. However, what he offered for publication was not always accepted. The technical and musical complexities of his best work, while placing him firmly in the European classical mainstream, were often thought to be too radical for Salvation Army performance. Those pieces that were published, like the March Praise and the Meditation Just as I am have become Salvation Army favourites, but several more were rejected. Others, like the Toccata, eventually found their way into print many years later. In his 20's and 30's, Wilfred’s musical ambitions extended beyond the brass band. There was a Suite for orchestra, which later became a Piano Sonata and eventually the Partita for band. His Op.1 was a Rhapsody for oboe and strings. Op.2 was a suite of Three Pieces for piano. Both works received performances in London under the auspices of the Society for the Promotion of New Music. There was also a Little Suite for recorder and piano, composed in 1955 for the Sheffield-based recorder virtuoso, Philip Rogers. He also composed for chamber ensembles and voices.
In the late-1950’s, Wilfred’s life began to take a different course. He had taken up the french horn and was working as a peripatetic brass teacher, a move which in 1962 took the Heaton family to Harrogate. Much of the day-to-day work of instrument repair was left in the hands of Herbert Cooking, son of the former owner, who had worked under Wilfred’s enlightened guidance for thirteen years. When Herbert Cooking moved to the United States in 1964, the Sheffield business was closed. Wilfred played in a number of teachers’ orchestras and ensembles. He was a founding conductor of the Dales Sinfonia. He formed and conducted the local schools youth orchestra. Between 1962 and 1969 he was Musical Director of the Leeds Symphony Orchestra. In 1970 he spent some months as resident Musical Director of the Black Dyke Mills Band. However, as his professional activities increased, Heaton’s own creativity went into decline. He continued to arrange music for all the performing groups with which he was involved, but he composed very little. Another note on the score of Variations offers the explanation: ". . .all compositional ambitions were brought to a halt through my contact with Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposphical Movement. Involvement in this seemed to dry me up at a tempo. I lost the impulse to compose. Such an activity seemed unimportant compared with the spiritual impulses provided by Steiner." Most of his spare time was now dedicated to a systematic exploration of the worlds of philosophy, of letters and of spirituality. From time to time, though, he was persuaded out of this creative semi-retirement, most notably in 1973, when he completed Contest Music - the only wholly original work to be published in his life-time. In his later years Wilfred was pleased, but always appeared surprised, at the appreciative reception his music was by then receiving. He never re-gained his old fluency but he was encouraged by family and friends - notably the conductor Howard Snell - to take up his composing pen once again. After the death of his wife and his own retirement from teaching, there was a welcome "Indian summer" - two substantial concertos, two marches and his final Variations. A few weeks before he died, Heaton remarked that as a young man all he wanted to be was a composer. "And I suppose that urge never really leaves you" he added. Wilfred Heaton once said to a colleague there would be some surprise at what would emerge from his "unregarded corner". He was quite right.
