Dynasty was premiered at the 2019 British Open Brass Band Championships and pays tribute to one of the brass community's legendary figures, Harry Mortimer (1902 - 1992). Using key passages from Mortimer's autobiography On Brass as the source for the narrative and in keeping with the "heritage" nature of the subject, the work takes the form of a Symphonic Poem, a musical structure first introduced to contest audiences at the Crystal Palace in 1913. The work opens with a four-note leitmotif and the timeline unfolds as follows:
0:12 1 - Harry (One's destiny decided at birth “I'll make him the best cornet player in England”).
2:32 2 - War (Why do the nations so furiously rage together? Fred volunteers for military service)
4:06 3 - Theatre (And suddenly “I dashed to the rescue like a hero in the silent movies I was about to get to know so well”)
4:47 4 – Journey (Rejoice greatly “A new life in Cheshire with a promising band called Foden's”)
7:08 5 – Together (Come unto me “A golden age”)
8:03 6 – Farewell (For behold, darkness “Fred's death surely marked the passing of an era”)
12:14 7 – Amen (The Trumpet shall sound - Farewell reprised)
Extracts from the score can be downloaded here:
[ Ссылка ]
(Video footage by kind permission of www.worldofbrass.tv)
