w3959
| Title | Ombre |
| Contributors |
John Maxwell Geddes (composer) |
| Composition date | 1984 1984 |
| Duration (mins) | 12 |
| Category | orchestral |
| Instrumentation | 3(3)2(1)3(1)2+1 4331 Tp 3 Perc Pf (Cel) Hp Str |
| Commissioned by | Bryden Thomson with funding from SAC |
| Key signature | |
| First line | |
| First performed | 01 1985 BBC Philharmonic Orchestra / Bryden Thomson RNCM, Manchester |
| Notes | |
| Programme Note | Ombre ('Shadows') is a short orchestral piece in one movement. The work was commissioned by Bryden Thomson for the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra with financial assistance from the Scottish Arts Council. The structure of Ombre is simple. The ritornello principle operates in that thematic material becomes transformed in recurring sections where varying tempi and textures are juxtaposed. The momentum of the piece is continually interrupted by instrumental 'shadows', at times dark, ominous; at times impressionistic, static. As the work opens a shadow passes over the orchestra (6 basses, soli). The darkness is penetrated by a 3-note motif on solo horn and the texture becomes lighter, more ethereal. The first burst of activity is short-lived, for low brass shadows take the piece back to ethereal textures and fragments of the opening, this time on low woodwind. After a 'new' theme on cor anglais, several solos provoke an orchestral skirmish. Woodwind clouds alternate with double basses and the return of more linear activity leads to a full orchestral confronatation. In the final section, shadows are dispelled and various ideas are recalled in ethereal textures; the initial horn motif is transformed into a quotation from a native American theme 'Song of Morning Star'. Ombre was first performed by the BBC Philharmonic/Thomson in January 1985. Bryden Thomson gave the work subsequent performances and broadcasts from the Royal Northern College of Music, RTE Symphony Orchestra and the BBC SSO. Ombre is the central work of a trilogy, together with Lacuna (another Bryden Thomson Commission, for Trondheim Symphony Orchestra 1977) and Voyager (a BBC commission, first performed by Jerzy Maksymiuk and the BBC SSO in 1985, subsequently at the BBC proms in London, tours in Poland, and Germany and by many other orchestras throughout the world.) The entire trilogy has been performed by the Rostov Philharmonic with Simian Kogan and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra with James Loughran. |
This work is associated with the following collection items:
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