Whitburn new commission for Scottish Open
A new composition which was commissioned by Whitburn Band for its own-choice piece in the European Championships has been selected as the set work for this year’s Scottish Open. ‘Astralis’, written by Philip Wilby, was given its world premiere performance by Whitburn at the Euros in Malmo, Sweden. Band chairman Charlie Farren said, “After the positive campaign in support of our band attending the championships, we are delighted to be in a position to now offer our new composition to the Scottish Brass Band Association for use at the Scottish Open. At the heart of our funding for this commission from Creative Scotland was the intention to the give the work to SBBA and for it to be performed by the bands of Scotland. Therefore any Scottish band participating in the 2023 Scottish Open in November will be gifted a score and a full set of parts of the work. We are delighted SBBA has accepted our offer. We also are most thankful for the help and support SBBA has given our band over the years and we look forward to hearing all the bands perform Philip’s fantastic music in November.”
Carrie Boax, president of SBBA, commented, “Having enjoyed the premiere of ‘Astralis’ at the EBBC 2023 in Malmo, I can’t wait to hear many fine performances of this extraordinary piece of music at the Scottish Open contest on Sunday 25 November as part of our Scottish Festival of Brass in Perth Concert Hall. Championship section bands from Scotland, the UK and further afield that are interested in participating in the Scottish Open should contact myself as contest controller to receive an entry form.”
She added, “On behalf of SBBA we are delighted with Besson’s continued financial backing of the contest and also grateful to Creative Scotland for additional funding. Furthermore I would like to thank Whitburn Band for working with us to support the event and our Scottish Championship section bands in this way.” The closing date for entries into the Scottish Open is 1 August. Scottish bands wishing to avail themselves of the offer of a complimentary full set of ‘Astralis’ music should email Carrie Boax: sbbapresident@gmail.com
Written by Philip Wilby, the work is in five sections: 1. Prologue: Ice and Fire, 2. Deep Field, 3. Black Hole, 4. Nebula, 5. Epilogue: Ad Astra. The piece commemorates the launching of the James Webb Space Telescope on 25 December 2021. The JWST consists of 18 hexagonal mirror segments made of gold-plated beryllium, making it the largest and most complete space telescope in history. ‘Astralis’ takes various images, drawn from the telescope’s deep field infrared photographs as the starting point for its five sections. Philip Wilby explained, “After the opening chorale section, I have composed a sound track to one of JWST zoomed images, moving through space and time towards a distant and very beautifully lit nebula. Second comes a sequence of musical images exploring the Deep Field photographs. Many of the objects that we can see sent their light towards us hundreds of years ago, and the results are both captivating and mysterious.
“The vastness of space and the multiplicity of galaxies is a subject of infinite wonder.” Philip continues: “The Black Hole section mirrors the inexorable progress of all matter and light towards the Black Hole where gravity is so intense that not even light can escape. The final explosion of a star casts clouds of light and dust into space, and these vast quantities of material can often reform into new worlds. The ‘Pillars of Creation’ – which are shown on the cover of the music score – found in the Eagle Nebula, may well be such a nursery for new stars. The Epilogue: Ad Astra represents our own desire to travel and explore the vastness of the space around us, and the countless possibilities shown to us by the James Webb Space Telescope.”
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