ALCHYMIST'S JOURNAL, The - Parts & Score, TEST PIECES (Major Works)

ALCHYMIST'S JOURNAL, The - Parts & Score, TEST PIECES (Major Works)
Availability Available
Cat No. JM39530
Price £59.95
Composer: Kenneth Hesketh
Category: TEST PIECES (Major Works)

Set as the First Section Test Piece for the 2015 National Finals of the British Brass Band Championships in Cheltenham.

The Alchymist’s Journal, subtitled Variants for brass band, was commissioned in 2001 by the Brass Band Heritage Trust and is dedicated to Paul Hindmarsh. This vibrant music is cast in the form of a series of extended symphonic variations based on a short theme heard at the start. After a quiet start, the music builds to an incisive and dramatic climax. Ideal for any First Section brass band contest.

Kenneth Hesketh writes :
"We are told that tIME is a brisk wind bringing forth each hour some fresh proportion, some new shape, and as our thoughts hourly change.... so it happens with TIME. May not the close of a motion be also the beginning ? "
This quotation is from the book the Alchymists' Journal by American Author Evan S. Connel that fictionalises a number of famous Alchemists' writing, each one developing another's thoughts. An idea is continued but changed subtly to provide a new view point or way of thinking. The process itself in fact alchemical, transfedring one idea into another.

In the The Alchymist's Journal ( Variants for Brass Band ), the processes at work are similarly about retention and change. The work is constructed from six notes ( C,A, Bb, Eb, F# and E ) and is presented in nine different sections, each individual in mood but still based upon the original pitches. This is not a thematic set of variations, as the themes are developed one at a time from small segments of the 6 notes. Whilst abstract with no descriptive programme, the music is dramatic and has a clear unfolding narrative.

The music is conceived in a complete arch from beginning to end, and not in smaller sections, the overall shape of the piece emerges in broader proportions - introduction, menacing scherzo, slow reflective section followed by a varied reprise of the scherzo and final coda.


Percussion required as follows :

Timpani

Percussion 1 - Bass Drum, Clash Cymbals, Glockenspiel, Side Drum, Splash Cymbal, Suspended Cymbal, Tambourine, 3 Tom Toms, Wood Block and Xylophone.

Percussion 2 - ( plus optional third player ) Bass Drum, Crash Cymbal, Glockenspiel, Side Drum, Suspended Cymbal, Tam Tam, Tubular Bels, Vibraphone, Whip and Xylophone.
 

Brass Band Grade 5: 1st Section

Duration: 12 minutes

Grade equivalents for Brass Band test-pieces where there is considerable overlap at the higher levels, depending on the level of competition (local, regional or national):

Grades 1 & 2: Novice and Learner Bands
Grade 3: Youth and 4th Section
Grade 4: Advanced Youth and 3rd Section
Grade 4/5: Premier Youth and 2nd Section
Grade 5: 1st Section
Grade 5/6: Championship and 1st Sections
Grade 6: Championship


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