Few contemporary composers move between the brass bands, orchestras, film, popular music and live performance worlds quite like Simon Dobson.
The multi award winning composer, conductor, arranger and producer has enjoyed links with the BBC Symphony Orchestra to Bring Me the Horizon and has built an acclaimed reputation for creating music that is uncompromisingly original and emotionally direct.
His connection to the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain stretches back almost two decades.
In 2008 he won the inaugural Denis & Maud Wright Conducting Award, before serving as Assistant Musical Director to the late Bramwell Tovey — an experience he describes as life changing and one that helped shape him as a musician.
Inspired by SATCoL's work to tackle the environmental impact of fast fashion through clothing reuse, textile recycling and innovative circular economy projects such as Project Re:Claim, it also has a deeper historical connection.
MACHINE!
This weekend he returns as the composer of ‘MACHINE!’ - a major commission made possible by the Salvation Army Trading Company Limited (SATCoL) and which forms the centrepiece of the NYBBGB Summer Course concert programme entitled, ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’.
Inspired by SATCoL's work to tackle the environmental impact of fast fashion through clothing reuse, textile recycling and innovative circular economy projects such as Project Re:Claim, it also has a deeper historical connection.
Simon Watts, Audience Development Manager of the NYBBGB recently caught up with him to find out more.
You've enjoyed a long association with the National Youth Band, so what does it mean to return with a new commission?
Simon Dobson: “A great deal. I've wanted to come back in some capacity for a long time – and who wouldn’t. They remain one of the finest youth brass ensembles anywhere in the world.
Winning the Denis & Maud Wright Conducting Award completely changed the direction of my career. I was still finding my feet as a conductor and never imagined where that journey would eventually lead.
One of the biggest lessons he taught me was to be vulnerable, to be honest and always put the music before your own ego. Those lessons still shape everything I do today
Working with Bramwell Tovey was genuinely life-changing. He was one of the most extraordinary musicians I've ever met because of his complete commitment to making great art.
One of the biggest lessons he taught me was to be vulnerable, to be honest and always put the music before your own ego. Those lessons still shape everything I do today.”
An early award winner...
Inspiration
Simon is keenly aware of brass banding's wider social history and speaks passionately about it and its importance as a binding communal product of Britain's industrial communities; many linked to the textile mills that transformed the nation during the nineteenth century.
‘MACHINE!’ draws on that shared heritage linked to a very different industrial landscape today - one in which the ‘great machine’ of fast fashion has become a global system of relentless production and consumption.
‘MACHINE!’ draws on that shared heritage linked to a very different industrial landscape today - one in which the ‘great machine’ of fast fashion has become a global system of relentless production and consumption.
Rather than simply celebrating industry, Simon's score explores both humanity's extraordinary capacity for innovation and our collective responsibility to use it more wisely.
How did the idea behind MACHINE! develop?
Simon Dobson: “The commission began through conversations with Trevor Caffull, Managing Director of SATCoL. He has been leading fantastic work highlighting the environmental impact of fast fashion and encouraging people to think differently about how we buy, reuse and recycle clothing.
SATCoL processes millions of donated garments every year, extending its use and pioneering innovative technologies that can recycle textiles previously thought impossible to reuse.
It's about the state of the world, about consumerism, about capitalism, about our future. Once I'd realised that, I knew exactly what the piece wanted to become.
He shared information about the remarkable machinery behind that work and the wider environmental challenge it is trying to address.
The title was the first thing that came to me and everything else seemed to fall into place. I knew it would reflect the endless cycle we're all part of - including our own images. Very quickly I realised it was about something much bigger.
It isn't really about fast fashion. It's about the state of the world, about consumerism, about capitalism, about our future. Once I'd realised that, I knew exactly what the piece wanted to become.”
What should the audience listen out for then?
Simon Dobson: “The piece unfolds across five connected movements, each representing part of a much bigger journey.
‘The Great Machine’ begins with the machine itself slowly coming to life. I've divided the band into different groups around the stage so that sounds move around the audience. Hopefully they’ll almost feel surrounded as this enormous machine gradually wakes up – a metaphor of different things.
It reflects the relentless pace of modern consumption and the speed at which we buy, discard and replace
‘Mode Éphémère’ ('fast fashion') is restless, energetic and constantly moving. It reflects the relentless pace of modern consumption and the speed at which we buy, discard and replace."
Beautiful place
At the work’s heart is ‘A Planet to Treasure’ (subtitled, for David Attenborough).
Simon Dobson: "I wanted to write something as beautiful as I possibly could. When audiences hear it, I'd love them to think about the most beautiful place they've ever visited - somewhere that reminds them exactly what we're trying to protect.
Then comes ‘The Wheels Keep Turning’, which returns to the unstoppable momentum of consumerism, and finally, ‘Recycle, Reuse’ draws together ideas from across the entire work.
I wanted the ending to leave the audience with a sense that there is still hope - but one that can be questioned.
Themes return, the journey comes full circle and the machine simply begins its cycle once again. I wanted the ending to leave the audience with a sense that there is still hope - but one that can be questioned.
The future hasn't been written yet. What happens next is up to us.”
You've worked with everyone from the Metropole Orkest to rock bands and major orchestras. How has that influenced your writing here?
Simon Dobson: “For years I tried to keep all those musical worlds separate. I'd write one way for brass bands, another way for orchestras and another for studio projects because I wasn't entirely confident in my own voice.
I simply try to be an honest musician. Everything influences everything else.
These days I don't think like that anymore. I simply try to be an honest musician. Everything influences everything else.
My music has probably become simpler over time, but also bolder. I'm much less interested in writing complicated music simply to impress other composers. I'd rather write something that communicates directly and honestly.”
So what do you hope audiences and the players will take away from you work?
Simon Dobson: "As composers, we really only make the things that don't exist yet. We make the things we most want to hear.
The greatest reward is seeing what the music does for the players. If musicians come off stage feeling they've experienced something meaningful together, then that's success. If someone in the audience laughs, cries or simply thinks differently afterwards, then that's even better.
The greatest reward is seeing what the music does for the players. If musicians come off stage feeling they've experienced something meaningful together, then that's success.
I hope people leave thinking first about what an extraordinary organisation The NYBBGB is. These young musicians represent the future of brass bands, and the future is in very safe hands.
And perhaps, when they next go shopping, they might think twice before buying another item they'll only wear once. The world itself will survive.
The question is whether we care enough to protect the future for ourselves and for the generations that come after us. If this piece encourages even a few people to think about that, then it's done exactly what I hoped.”
With thanks to Simon Watts
