Angel of the North takes as its inspiration Anthony Gormley's iconic statue which is located at Gateshead in Northern England. It stands majestically on the southern edge of Low Fell, overlooking the A1 and A167 roads into Tyneside and the East Coast Main Line rail route, south of Team Colliery.

The angel is a steel sculpture, 20 metres tall, with wings measuring 54 metres. The wings do not stand straight sideways, but are angled 3.5 degrees forward; Gormley did this to create "a sense of embrace".

Angel of the North begins quietly and builds to an early climax before a brief, more mysterious interlude leads to the first statement of one of the key melodic ideas; a fluid theme in 3 time. An exciting development section dashes towards the central, more reflective section. These elements then blend and change as the piece progresses through various moods until a triumphant return of the main idea closes the piece in a blaze of glory!

 

Richard Grantham has emerged in recent years as one of the most sort after composers and arrangers for brass and wind of his generation. He was born in Sheffield and studied Music at Huddersfield Polytechnic. He is a former Principal Cornet of The National Youth Brass Band and winner of the prestigious Alexander Owen Memorial Scholarship. While at Huddersfield, he studied composition with Richard Steinitz and Peter Lawson, Trumpet with David James and conducting with John Gulley. While at Huddersfield, Richard was awarded the Peabody Holmes Prize for outstanding achievement in both his second and final years of study.

During the next 20 years, much of Richard's musical focus was on performing and conducting where he performed with some of the UK's top brass bands and worked as a free-lance trumpeter. Throughout this time though, he continued to compose and arrange music for a variety of ensembles. Brass Quartet No.1 was premiered at Hull University in 1995 and the Tuba Quartet 'Celtic Festival' at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in 1998.

In recent years, Richard's compositions and arrangements have been performed, broadcast and recorded throughout the world. His major works for brass have been chosen for a number of prestigious competitions including Butlins Mineworkers Festival (Hostile Skies 2009) National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain (Darkness Visible 2011) and the Dutch National Brass Band Championships (Angel of the North 2012)

Richard lives in the beautiful market town of Beverley in East Yorkshire with his wife and children.