Co-operative Funeralcare Crewe Band is preparing for the world premiere of a new work to be performed as part of Manchester Metropolitan University Cheshire’s forthcoming centenary celebrations.

Pink Mist

Masters student Adam Shilton’s composition, ‘Through The Pink Mist’ is a response to his time spent serving as a soldier on the front line in Iraq, and the band will provide the first performance on September 10th.

30 year old Adam, who is from Crewe, served in Basra in 2006 with the Cheshire Regiment, now part of the Mercian Regiment, and after returning to civilian life came across the memoir of Eugene B Sledge, a US Marine who had served during the Second World War.

Experience

"His book was able to put into words what I had never been able to express about my experience," Adam told 4BR. "I thought it would be an excellent composition tool to allow some of his phrases to provide the melody."

He decided to write the piece for a brass band as he started playing with the Lions Youth Band, before moving on to play with the Roberts Bakery and Foden’s as a teenager.

My belief is that a brass band can achieve the same emotional impact on the audience as an orchestra – so I wrote the piece to do thatAdam Shilton

Emotional impact

He also believes the work fills a gap which he perceived in the musical landscape.

"Musically there are not many cinematic pieces scored for brass bands. They tend to be for strings and orchestra," said Adam. "My belief is that a brass band can achieve the same emotional impact on the audience as an orchestra – so I wrote the piece to do that."

Fodens help

Determined to capture the true essence of its inspiration, Adam spent two months tracking down Eugene’s family in Alabama. He managed to get in touch with his son, Henry, and the pair discussed the work before Adam worked on it with the newly crowned British Open champions.

He added: "Foden’s were great to work with because they are of such a high standard I was able to put things in front of them and get immediate feedback."

Documentary

Adam also filmed himself working to create a mini documentary which will be played while the Co-op Funeralcare band are performing, so the audience can hear the music live while watching how it was created.

For further information go to: www.cheshire.mmu.ac.uk/centenary