My orchestral piece Prelude: “1939”, written for the symphony orchestra of Eton College as part of my residency there, will be premiered on 26th June (details on the poster below). The piece takes a painting by Hans Feibusch as its starting point. This is my first time writing for a youth orchestra, and I have been thrilled by their talent, energy and enthusiasm. Here is the programme note…
The title of this orchestral prelude is taken from the painting “1939” by German artist Hans Feibusch. The piece is not programmatic or pictorial, but has used the tragi-comic image of the painting’s three figures as an expressive starting point. The main material is a triadic chorale sequence which droops downwards chromatically. Out of this comes the major 3rd as a harmonic basis and the descending semitone as a melodic basis.
…and you can view the first page here.
JW
JONATHAN WOOLGAR 