FOCUS ON REPERTOIRE

     Nigel Clarke with contributions from Peter Sheppard Skærved & Reed Thomas

ack in 2014 I found myself on the tion with conductors, performers, com- College Band Directors National Asso- posers, directors, authors and ensembles in ciation (CBDNA) composers’ Question and the many different genres with which I Answer panel at the University of North work. I have never enjoyed just writing a Florida chaired by Professor Allan work on request: I prefer to be more hands McMurray. I remarked that it was a rare on and love the two-way (and sometimes opportunity for me to address a room multilateral) interaction of ideas that packed full of conductors and college band happens when you get excited about stuff musical ideas when we’re together! The directors, and as a composer perhaps also a with others. Something unexpected always freedom to experiment is key to the success good business opportunity to line up a few emerges, and the end result is usually better of our collaboration. We certainly take commissions for the future! My subsequent than you could have ever imagined on your Beethoven’s advice seriously in his ‘note to declaration that I was not interested in own. To view commissions as a way to climb self’ in his Tagebuch “Every day share a writing any of them a new commissioned up the career ladder and get noticed is in meal with musicians, where one might work seemed to cause some amusement in my view short sighted. However talented a discuss instruments and techniques and the auditorium. I qualified my position by composer is, he/she is missing a trick by such….” (1812). saying that I only ever wrote music for treating every contact with potential com- people that I had built a long-term musical missioners as a ‘target of opportunity’. For Collaborating with Nigel Clarke relationship with. As an example I men- me this type of pushiness is not only tioned my great friend Dr. Reed Thomas, behaving badly, but can also compromise by Peter Sheppard Skærved Director of Bands at Middle Tennessee State the creative process itself – it’s the differ- My work with Nigel Clarke has served as a University (MTSU), as the one person in the ence between buying an off the peg suit “test bed”, paradigm, and ideal for a room at that moment in time that I was sure versus one that is fully tailor made. career-long series of collaborations with I would be interested in writing for. Reed My longest standing musical collaborator composers of every generation, ranging and I met for the first time in early 2010 at has been the violinist Peter Sheppard from and George another CBDNA event, but it is only now 5 Skærved, going back over nearly 30 years. Rochberg, Judith Weir and David Mat- years later that I have written him a new In that time I have written Peter two thews, to composers of my own generation, work. I will come back to Reed and MTSU (one of which is the Violin and such as Kenneth Hesketh and Jörg later. Wind piece ‘Black Fire’), a Widmann and not forgetting the younger My best compositions have (nearly) handful of solo violin works and 5 string creators, including school children who are always resulted from long-term collabora- orchestra pieces. We never stop exchanging the future and the hope for music making.

Nigel Clarke studied composition at the with Paul Pat- terson, winning the Josiah Parker Prize (adjudicated by Sir Michael Tippett) and the Academy’s highest distinction, the Queen’s Commendation for Excellence. He gained his Doctor of Musical Arts from University of Salford. Nigel has pre viously held positions as Young Composer in Residence at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Composition and Contemporary Music Tutor at the Royal Academy of Music, London, Head of Composition at the London College of Music and Media, visiting tutor at the Royal Northern College of Music, Associate Com- poser to the Black Dyke Band, Associate Composer to the Band of HM Grenadier Guards and Associate Composer to the Royal Military School of Music and Asso- ciate Composer to Brass Band Buizingen (in Belgium). In 1997 Nigel joined the United States International Visitor Leadership Program sponsored by the US Infor- mation Agency. He is currently Composer to Bands Middle Tennessee State University Bands, Composer-in-Residence to the Marinierskapel der Koninklijke Marine (Marine Band of the Royal Netherlands Navy and International Composer in Association to the world famous Grimethorpe Collery Band in the UK. For information about Nigel Clarke and his work go to www.nigel-clarke.com

WASBE World 15 will best suit the performer. On some occa- sions, the tailor must try to convince the client to choose a more adventurous style. In the course of the project the suit must be adjusted to ensure a perfect fit. Ultimately the client has to feel good in his/her new clothes or the outfit will remain on the hanger. In short, conducting the first run- through of ‘Samurai’ with the RNCM stu- dents was like the first fitting and the outcome was a few ‘nips and tucks’ here and there. Back in 2010 Reed Thomas invited me to be a guest composer to MTSU in Tennessee. Between rehearsals with his talented musi- cians, Reed suggested that I should write him a new work for his premier Wind Ensemble at MTSU for the forthcoming season’s concert programme. Though interested, I said I would like to get to know the group and understand their musical approach. Reed suggested that the first step Peter Sheppard Skærved working with Reed Thomas at MTSU could be for his group to make a recording of three of my works for a Naxos disc. This would be an excellent way of really getting I think that it is fair to say that Nigel and new music that will emerge, and the insight to know the strengths of the players and I learnt as we went along. The collaboration that comes with that. finding out what they look for in music. This began, in the traditional place, in the Other long standing collaborations have project led to three USA premieres (‘Earth- rehearsal room, and only gradually found been with Belgian conductor Luc Ver- rise’, ‘Their Finest Hour’ and ‘Heritage its way ‘behind the workshop door’. Ini- tommen in the brass band arena, with Suite’) during the preparation of which I tially, this more ‘transgressive’ practice (and Matthew J George (from the University of attended many rehearsals and co-produced by that I mean, where the performer has a St. Paul) for whom I have written four my pieces on the disc. During this same direct impact on the material as it is works to date including ‘Gagarin’ and ‘Mata period, Reed returned to the subject of my created), began with conversations over Hari’ and with the late James Watson, the writing an original work for his orchestra. coffee, and then, with the composition of foremost British player and con- The first seeds were sown during one of our Nigel’s epochal ‘Pernambuco’, found its ductor of brass bands. In the area of film car journeys together. Reed told a story way into the workroom, to the blank sheet scoring, I have had a productive long-term about an act of arson that had been com- of paper, the ‘what are we going to do?’, collaborative partnership with the British mitted against a mosque in the USA; his which is at the heart of collaboration. composer Michael Csanyi-Wills. reaction was to say ‘Who are the terrorists Encouraged by the British Council, we In the wind now?’ This sparked an idea to produce a were able to take this further, and explore orchestra arena my work about the troubled times that we live environments and deeper questions, of piece ‘Samurai’ is in, which would aim to show that war, ter- identity, of history, of politics as part of the another example rorism, revenge, violence and bigotry have processes around Nigel’s composing. So the of collaboration. occurred and reoccurred throughout man- ‘workshop’ came to include time spent in I wrote the piece kind’s history. Needless to say Reed’s the Balkans, the Far East, in Latin America, back in 1997 for remark about the mosque features in the ‘hunting the piece’. This ‘hunting process’, the British con- text accompanying the piece. which continues to this day, includes just as ductor Timothy Reynish and the Royal much coffee as before, but in plethora of Northern College of Music Wind (RNCM) different environments, be they a ruined Orchestra, and it was premiered at the castle in Croatia, a field of tragedy in WASBE conference in Hamamatsu, Japan. It Belgium, a market in Ankara, or as ever, our was my first wind orchestra piece, and Tim respective homes and worktables. gave me the opportunity to work closely The practice which has evolved, grown with the musicians. I was able to conduct between the two of us, seems to me to be the first run-through and had the luxury of one where there is no difference between making alterations and returning to try questions of semiquavers and demisemi- them out, before Tim finally took over the quavers, and questions of the meaning, of conducting. This approach is one that I still the ethical obligations between the imag- like to use today. I particularly enjoy the first ining and making of music. At its heart, it is rehearsal and interacting with the musicians shared discovery, and the sense that there’s to get the most out of the music. no limit to that. Always, I look forward to For me, the composer is like a ‘master the next step on this shared road, to the tailor’ who must understand the style that

16 WASBE World At first we had thought about doing a ‘The Great War in Portraits’ commemora- staged theatrical drama with actors and tion exhibition. In the exhibition there was a audience participation, but for various postcard sized photograph that had caused reasons it could not go ahead at that time. controversy, as there was no human form As the idea may be developed again in the on it. The photograph depicted a field in ‘no future, I do not want to reveal too much man’s land’ between the trenches in France, about this project! a pulverised landscape in which no living The result is a work entitled ‘A Richer tree or plant was left standing. I was already Dust’ Symphony No. 1 for Speaker and aware of the famous WW1 Rupert Brooks Wind Orchestra with an orchestration that poem ‘The Soldier’ in which there is a line has not only more than one but ‘In that rich earth a richer dust concealed’. also – an instrumentation that I have The poem and the photograph together not used before. For me the work is deeply inspired me to name the piece ‘A Richer personal and relevant because it deals with Dust’. subjects that I feel strongly about and An important aim of this project is to add touches the lives of all of us every day. The to the repertoire of brass, wind and percus- approximately 50-minute work represents a sion a work, which in the same way as Ben- double collaboration, not only with Reed, jamin Britten’s ‘’, deals with but also with the Danish writer Malene the subject of man’s destructive capacity. Sheppard Skærved. ‘A Richer Dust’ also marks the culmination Malene and I had many conversations of my association as Visiting Composer to around summer 2014. We had already Bands at MTSU and my fruitful collabora- worked together on a piece for words and a modern day rap style. In some places the tion over a number of years with Reed , a collaboration which had sound of the words is used as an instru- Thomas. been fruitful, so it seemed natural to find mental texture and in other places the another joint project. Using music and words add dramatic effect. It is very impor- Collaborating with Nigel Clarke tant how a word sounds when spoken, and I words, ‘A Richer Dust’ explores what it by Reed Thomas means to live with violence and extremism, have given instructions to the speaker about the constant companions of human history. how to pronounce certain words in the Throughout my tenure at MTSU, I have The intertwined text and music, ideas and same way as I would add accents, dynamics, commissioned well over 40 works, either images, weave together voices ranging from and expression markings to musical notes. directly or through joining a consortium. As those of historically significant figures During the writing process, many ideas one might expect, the quality of these through to the voiceless, ordinary people started to emerge about how to bring pieces vary and it is the hope that terrific living in extraordinary times. further drama to the work. I recently bid for masterpieces can come out of this process. I An important component in the success and purchased a 1916 First World War believe this collaboration between Nigel of any collaboration is trust – which is why British Officer’s trench whistle, which is Clarke, Malene Sheppard Skærved, Pro- it is necessary to get to know your fellow blown by the Speaker several times during fessor H. Stephen Smith (MTSU Voice collaborators. For example, I had asked the brutal climax of the work. A century faculty), the members of the MTSU Wind Malene to write a text that could be struc- ago this antique whistle may have heralded Ensemble, and myself has resulted in such a tured into four movements. The amount of the death or wounding of soldiers going work of art. From the initial request, Nigel text is crucial – too little or too much could ‘over the top’, and this adds a poignant had explained that he wanted to write kill the work stone dead. Malene said that musical connection between the present something “special” and not just another she would not show me any sketches but and the past. commission. While I was flattered, I did not that I would see the whole text when The title for the symphony came to me fully realize at the time how important this finished. It involved a leap of faith, as I only after a visit to the National Portrait Gallery statement was and is. had limited time and had to decide quickly in London during the 2014 World War I It has taken over five years for the idea to on how to approach the work. What she sent me in the end was inspirational and showed great understanding of how I might use her words. Trust is paramount and must apply on all sides in equal measure. In this case it was not needed, but trust is an element of good collaboration because con- structive compromise may be needed. I treated the text in the same way as I have worked with dialogue in film scores in the past – the music can reflect the mood of the words, it can forewarn about what is about to be said, it can be at odds with the speaker or simply create a backcloth or, in film scoring terms, be an underscore to the dialogue. At certain points throughout the work, the orchestra chant Malene’s words in Reed Thomas calls to the stage Nigel Clarke and Malene Sheppard Skærved

WASBE World 17 piece that presented several large issues. How to balance the narrator with the List of Wind Ensemble / ensemble, how to utilize the power of the Wind Orchestra Hammer Blows without compromising the Samurai (1995) ** delicate aspect of the woodwind lines and City in the Sea – Euphonium how to get this massive work down in the (1997) ** available time frame, all took great colla- Breaking the Century [transcription] borative efforts. (1999) * The end result of all these people colla- Battles & Chants – clarinet concerto borating with their individual talents and (2001) * everyone feeling as if they were a part of Mata Hari (2002) * the process regardless of when they Tilbury Point (2003) * entered, was a magical event. I believe King Solomon’s Mines (2003) * Nigel said it best when he wrote “…inter- Gagarin (2004) * action of ideas that happens when you get Forgotten Heroes (2005) * excited about stuff with others. Something Black Fire – violin concerto (2006) * unexpected always emerges, and the end Fanfares & Celebrations (2007) * result is usually better than you could have Fields of Remembrance (2008) * ever imagined on your own.” Writer Malene Sheppard Skærved hits Heritage Suite (What Hope Saw) With so much music in existence, for a Mahler-Box made by Reed Thomas for (2009) * wind orchestra or otherwise, I believe that Nigel Clarke’s ‘A Richer Dust’ Their Finest Hour (2010) Studio Music * composers need to ask themselves these Earthrise [transcription by Nigel Clarke] questions: (2012) * germinate and fully blossom and the What am I writing for? Storm Surge (2013) Studio Music * amount of input from everyone involved Who am I writing for? Old World Overture (2014) * has been tremendous. The collaborative Does my music have any importance or A Richer Dust (Symphony No. 1 for work exhibited from Malene and Nigel is function in today’s society? Speaker & Wind Orchestra) (2015) * paramount, but the inspiration Professor Today we have so many distractions in our Mysteries of the Horizon – Trumpet Smith brought to the narration and the pro- daily lives and have surrounded ourselves Concerto (2015) * fessionalism of the musicians must also be with background noise: in every sports-bar, recognized. As an example, we decided to restaurant, from our home to the shopping ** Maecenas Music / * Studio Music wear blood-red carnations on our concert centre we can hear a backing track of music. black and scatter dozens of flowers along The music of today is like fast food – a quick the stage front as a visual representation of dose of comfort-sound. Our musical diet has recognised that certain men/women the concert poster that had been created needs to become more nutritious. possess this gift and has accorded them a for this premiere (another collaborator, I have always had great admiration for special place. But if such men – poets if you Rufus Walsh) which was black and white the late British composer Sir Michael like – are honoured, are the products of with a red carnation in the center. During Tippett, whom I had the privilege to meet at their imagination of any real value to the intermission (just before the premiere) a the Royal Academy of Music in London in society which honours them? Or are we, student musician suggested that all of the 1984. Tippett questioned the role of music particularly at this point in history, deluding players discreetly remove their flower and in today’s society: ourselves that this may be so?” Sir Michael let it fall to the floor, which ended up being “I am a composer. That is someone who Tippett a memorable effect at the end of the work. imagines sounds, creating music from the In my view we need to recalibrate the Another level of collaboration is in the inner world of the imagination. The ability meaning of music in our lives, and collabo- instrumentation. The piece calls for several to experience and communicate this inner ration is an excellent starting point to “Hammer Blows,” which are created by a world is a gift. Throughout history, society achieving this. Mahler Box. One had to be constructed so I took it upon myself to research and build one and the effectiveness of this new instrument was very powerful. My collaborative efforts with this project varied from ideas for content in the very early stages to crafting the Mahler Box, to interpretive decisions up to and during the concert. Nigel and I would talk often via Skype and we were lucky enough to have both him and Malene on campus for a week giving us input and receiving feed- back during the rehearsal process. A final note of collaboration was during the recording process. The engineers made themselves available for several rehearsals, taking notes on how best to capture the Peter Sheppard Skærved, Reed Thomas and Nigel Clarke work on Black Fire at MTSU

18 WASBE World Written for and dedicated to Dr Reed Thomas and the Middle Tennessee State University Wind Ensemble 3

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; 'A RICHER DUST' Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere Symphony No. 1 for Speaker & Wind Orchestra The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. W.B. Yeats 1. Still We Drudge In This Dark Maze

Words: Malene Sheppard Skærved Music: Nigel Clarke q Larghetto = c.56 (fragile in style) Conductor Note: The style of the opening material (and similar music elsewhere in the work) should remind us of early Christian plainsong 2 SPEAKER /∑4 ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑

° ˙ ˙ ˙ 2 b˙ b˙ b˙ œ. nœ œ bœ œ bœ Piccolo & 4 p (with ) 1.2 (1 player only on a part) œ2. (1 player only) œ j ‰ Œ ∑ ∑ bb˙œ ˙œ bœ˙ œ bbœ œ œ œ 2 J J ‰Œ ∑ J ‰Œ J ‰Œ J Œ 1.2 & 4 ‰Œ ‰Œ p p 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ 3 ¢& 4

° 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ 1. 2 & 4

2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ English Horn ¢& 4 ° 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ Eb Clarinet ¢& 4 1 player on a part only ˙œ ˙ ˙ ° 2 ∑∑∑∑∑J 1 & 4 ‰Œ p 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ Bb Clarinets 2 & 4

2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ 3 ¢& 4

° 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ Bb ¢& 4

°? 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ Bassoons 1.2 4

N.B. Bb Bass Saxophone option if no Double Bassoon ? 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ Contrabassoon ¢ 4 ° 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ Eb Alto Saxophones 1.2 & 4

2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ Bb Tenor Saxophone & 4

2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ Eb Baritone Saxophone ¢& 4

° 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ Bb 1.2 & 4

2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ Bb Trumpets 3.4 ¢& 4

° 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ F Horns 1.2 & 4

2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ F Horns 3.4 ¢& 4

°? 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ Tenor 1.2 4

? 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ Bass ¢ 4 ° ? 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ Euphoniums 1.2 4

? 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ 1.2 ¢ 4 “” ˙ ˙ ˙ b˙ b˙ b˙ œ. nœ œ bœ œ bœ 2 & 4

p (with Piccolo) Piano 2 {? 4 ∑∑∑∑∑∑‰‰ Œ ∑ ° ° ° ° ° ? 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ Violoncello 1.2 4

? 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ Double Bass ¢ 4

? 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ Timpani 4

Suspended Cymbal (Sus. Cymb.) ° 2 ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ 1 / 4 æ æ æ æ æ æ æ æ pp (high to low) Wind Chimes (W.Chms.) œ œ 2 ∑∑∑Œ gliss. ∑∑‰ J gliss. ∑ 2 / 4 "Œ pp l.v. l.v. 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑ ∑ ∑ Percussion 3 / 4

Vibraphone (Vibra.) bœ œ bœ 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑Œ 4 & 4 p ° Glockenspiel (Glock.) 2 ∑∑∑∑∑∑bœ bœ œ bœ 5 ¢& 4 p

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