Seascapes Showtime!

Friday 8th September has arrived and there is a huge amount going on! Yes, the bulk of the hard work has been completed as far as composing and rehearsing are concerned but there are still conversations to be had.

Taking them in order, there is a conversation with conductor and orchestra for mining those final nuggets of interpretation.

Next, there is a conversation with the BBC radio producer to put the finesse onto the live broadcast which for radio listeners will have differing qualities from the live audience.

For the afternoon dress rehearsal, 20 or so students from a local Sixth Form college are attending and hoping to hear from conductor, concert-meister and composer. As there may not be time for the hoped for Q and A, I have prepared a booklet of the first four Orchestras Live blogs so that the students will have material to take away with them which will give an insight into the compositional process.

The performance time approaches, and there are conversations to be had with the programme presenter, Ian Skelly, in preparation for when he interviews me and with the floor manager about arrangements for cues and microphones for the interview – all essential details to pin down in the context of a live broadcast.

As the clock ticks down, the audience start arriving and there is a palpable air of expectation. This is a very special occasion for a Norfolk seaside town and people from across the county have been eager to attend the concert, (so eager, in fact, that tickets were sold out within 3 hours of going on sale!) and to take full advantage of the gloriously uplifting programme put together by the BBC Concert Orchestra for their final contribution to the BBC Proms 2023.

The Hippodrome Circus is looking vibrantly colourful, decked out for its summer season and now lending that colour to the orchestral setting. The pre-concert hush is a little longer than usual in order to have a clean entry into the broadcast which Ian Skelly sets off with a warm welcome to radio listeners as well as the in-house audience.

Seascapes is the fourth piece in the concert, carefully positioned after consultations with the producer, taking into account the pieces before and after so that the artistic dynamic has a shape that serves the entire programme, my new piece and the concert as a whole. These decisions require thought, knowledge, imagination and sometimes a bit of negotiation!

After the enduringly beautiful Lark Ascending, Seascapes’ time has come, and it is a glorious privilege to have my music performed alongside works by Vaughan Williams and Walton. I am interviewed immediately before Seascapes is performed, so I have the opportunity of bringing out one or two features of the music, mentioning some influences, and, at least to the Hippodrome audience, being seen as a living, breathing composer and not just a name in the programme. (See image, above).

The performance is wonderful and enthusiastically received. As soon as the concert is over, the whole evening is uploaded to BBC Sounds for 30 days. This is hugely important as it extends the value of a world première to a far wider audience.

All in all, for me, this has been a career lifetime highlight. It has been a pleasure also to share the journey through this blog which I hope has given insights into the compositional process on both creative and practical levels. The final word must be to recognise Orchestras Live for the fantastic and fundamental work that they do around the country in supporting artists, developing audiences and promoting orchestras.