| Regionals
2004: Test piece review
TRISTAN ENCOUNTERS
A Retrospective View by the Composer, Martin Ellerby
The composer of this year's Regional Championship
set work, gives his own thoughts about the "Tristan" test.
 Once,
when asked ‘what comes first, the music or the lyrics?’
the noted Hollywood songwriter Sammy Cahn replied: ‘the phone
call!’ Well, it might not have been quite like that with regard
to Tristan Encounters, but Philip Biggs (organiser of the
All England Masters Brass Band Championships) certainly made the
phone call to me sometime in 1998 to invite me to write the test
piece for the following year’s competition in Cambridge.
I had known Philip for some time and kept him updated on my new
works for brass band mainly in the form of recordings on both commercial
CD’s and from the BBC Festival of Music for Brass where I
was fortunate enough, in those halcyon days, to have had splendid
performances of my Euphonium Concerto (with Steven Mead),
my brass symphony Natalis and tone poem Vistas.
I suppose he felt ready to take a chance on a composer who, though
having a reasonable history of working with bands, had no track
record of writing test-pieces. In fact most of the works I had written
were deemed unsuitable for such use due to my predilection for writing
four percussion parts per score, although Natalis was later
used as a test-piece in the National Youth Brass Band Championships
of Great Britain where such issues are less problematic.
So, armed with the obvious instrumentation list, an approximate
maximum duration and the date of the competition, I had to work
out what the piece was going to be and how in fact it would differ
from my previous works in the sense that it was commissioned from
the outset to test players and conductors alike. What else had I
really got though? Well, I had attended several contests and understood
the peculiar aesthetics of such days along with a little dose of
the ever-present political shenanigans! I had a strong publisher
whose then music editor, Philip Sparke, could be relied on for help
and advice. I also had (as I still do) my ‘little-book-of-proposed-titles’
in which lay the key words Tristan and Encounters.
Eventually, I realised the only serious drawback was the fact that
I would have no opportunity to alter or revise the score prior to
publication – a situation I still find alien and somewhat
disconcerting. I considered, and still do, the rehearsals before
a premiere, along with the first performance itself, to be a firm
part of the writing process: an opportunity to have second thoughts,
confirm issues and draw on feedback from a variety of sources, chiefly
conductors, performers and listeners. This is not insecurity but
the knowledge that once a work is commercially printed publishers
do not want their composers coming back with new editions every
fortnight!
It the event, writing a test piece has some certainties. The ‘rules’
and general expectations are known and not going to be changed for
individuals. I returned to my little book – yes Tristan
Encounters it was to be – the time had arrived to use
up that particular title.
So why Tristan and why Encounters? What were
behind such thoughts? Enter Richard Wagner. I had long been quite
entranced by the opening prelude music to his opera Tristan
und Isolde due to its enigmatic tonal properties: its avoidance
of confirming a tonic, at least for some time, so that whenever
appearing committed to a key the result is doubly effective and
dramatic. Much use of the interrupted cadence is also a notable
feature of this opening music. Then there was the famous ‘Tristan-Chord’,
the principal cause of this tonal instability along with some beautiful
sequences, ever falling short of sentimentality, and, finally, from
the close of the opera the ‘Liebestod’ (Love’s
Death) which would eventually provide the basis for my own
conclusion and, in contrast to Wagner’s poetic ending, a glorious
test-piece finish – of which more later. The Encounters
aspect is easily dealt with and needs little explanation. In short,
it is simply the meeting point between the Wagner original and my
own collisions with elements of his music.
The sub-title Prelude and Transfigurations for Brass and Percussion
is included as it is part of a generic series of such sub-titles
I have used on both previous and future occasions: Natalis –
Symphony for Brass and Percussion, Requiescant Aberfan – Symphonic
Elegy No. 1 for Brass and Percussion and Chivalry –
Symphonic Tone Poem for Brass and Percussion. The term Prelude
obviously refers to my source material and Tranfigurations to
Wagner’s own method regarding the compositional techniques
of variation and metamorphosis. I am also keen to acknowledge the
contribution made by percussionists in contemporary works for the
medium. There is no significance to the number of transfigurations
– fourteen being the number I reached as I approached the
timing deadline!
Much has been written elsewhere regarding the structure and course
of the piece, most notably by Rodney Newton (to whom the work is
dedicated) in the British Bandsman and Alan Jenkins of Brass Band
World magazine, both of whom interviewed me and I have no reason
to disagree with their subsequent accounts. To this effect, I shall
conclude these notes with a few personal observations and comments.
Enter Rodney Newton, a fellow composer (with some highly impressive
brass band compositions and arrangements along with 9 symphonies
and much media work to his credit) I was fortunate to have him on
my staff when I was Head of Composition and Contemporary Music at
the London College of Music and Media. Rodney is a confirmed ‘Wagnerite’
and, as all who know him will attest, never short of conversation
material on any number of subjects! When the news came in that he
had suffered a stroke (whilst conducting a brass band) as an act
of support and friendship during this time I had no hesitation in
dedicating Tristan Encounters to Rodney. Perhaps the greater
privilege and pleasure was to follow as Rodney was fit enough to
be taken to Cambridge as my guest for the first 21 performances
the work was to receive!
With regard to the cadenza section that comprises the 12th Transfiguration,
I would confess to having forced this into the proceedings. Its
musical weakness is that the piece halts in order to accommodate
what can best be described as intrinsic test-piece writing: a section
designed purely to trip up the unfortunate on the day. I had the
courage to avoid this when I wrote my second test-piece Chivalry
for the 2003 Masters, but must also acknowledge that Chivalry
was a difficult piece to judge due to the fact that all the bands
entering at that level could technically play the work very well.
Chivalry, in the final analysis, is probably a 1st Section
test-piece, whereas the cadenza section alone puts Tristan Encounters
firmly in the top bracket.
I do, however, have a personal opinion about musicality being part
and parcel of a challenging test-piece. Aspects such as phrasing,
adherence to dynamic markings and gradations, ensemble, close proximity
to the suggested metronome marks, and most of all, being tasteful
in the interpretation. This is not to deny the delivery of a different
or even somewhat controversial performance but rather that there
are certain unwritten parameters that liberties should not be taken
with – I’d describe this as good-taste!
Another writer, T. S. Eliot in his Four Quartets wrote
‘In my beginning is my end. In my end is my beginning.’
I would like to draw the attention of band directors to this quotation
with regard to my piece. The work opens with a timpani solo (doubled
in 4 tom-toms) comprising the four notes of the Tristan-Chord.
The work ends with this same rhythmic figure (though pitch adjusted)
and it should be dynamic and conclusive with no elongation of the
final beat in any parts. Close examination of the last page of the
published score will reveal that it comprises one chord –
the final tonic – and takes three full bars and a slight part
of a fourth to execute: there is no need (in my opinion) to drag
this out any further than I have written it. Perhaps my notation
is not clear but this is the certain intent of the composer and
I hope that the adjudicators would sense this.
Having lived with Tristan Encounters for some five years
I am happy with the work. I’ve been fortunate to have had
it released on some half-dozen commercial CD’s and it’s
often been the own-choice piece at several overseas competitions.
I’m delighted that it has been chosen for this year’s
Regional Championships and look forward to attending as many of
the contests as possible.
Finally, in closing, I wish all the competing bands in their various
regions every success and hope they have found my work a challenging
but enjoyable experience.
Martin Ellerby – Altrincham, March 2004
Written for 4BarsRest.com the online brass band magazine
Copyright 4BR
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