|
Gallimaufry
derives from music written by Guy Woolfenden for the Royal Shakespeare
Company’s productions of the Henry IV plays
which opened the Barbican Theatre, London in 1982. The score is
dedicated to the director, Trevor Nunn, with gratitude for his
suggestion that the music for these productions should be expanded and
moulded into a form suitable for concert performance.
The work is continuous and the
thematic material of each of the six sections closely related. The
"establishment" - leadership, temporal and ecclesiastical power - are
depicted in the stately march which opens the work (Church and State).
The second section, Inn and Out, in an energetic hemiola rhythm, is
concerned with the stews and low-life revels at the Boar's Head Tavern.
This is interrupted and finally integrated with the Tavern Brawl and
Gadshill Ambush of Starts and Fits. The mood changes and the
ambivalence of Prince Hal's relationship with his father and surrogate
father, Falstaff, is portrayed in a serene cor anglais solo. (Father
and Son). Advance and Retreat is a recruiting march, derived from the
Tavern Tune and leads into the last movement, Church and Status Quo,
which deals with the rejection of Falstaff and the crowning of Price
Hal. Order is restored with a majestic affirmation of the opening
material.
The work was commissioned by Timothy
Reynish and the British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind
Ensembles, with funds provided by North West Arts, and the first
performance took place on September 24th 1983 in Manchester, with the
Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra conducted by the
composer.
|
