O R C H E S T R A L

A SEASONG

2011

For Symphony Orchestra

Commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music, London

In memory of Sir Henry Wood

Completed: 26.09.2011

Duration: c.a. 5 min

World Premiere: 28.11.2011

Martin Georgiev - Conductor

Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra:

players from Junior Academy, Primary Academy, Senior Academy

and Kuumba Youth Music

Location: Duke's Hall, Royal Academy of Music, London

 Listen to Audio Clip

Excerpt: Live recording form the premiere at the Sir Henry Wood Gala, 26.09.2011

at the Royal Academy of Music, London, conducted by the composer.

Instrumentation:

Exists in Two different instrumentations FULL and REDUCED:

FULL Instrumentation:

3Fl.

Picc

3Ob.

Cor Anglais

3Cl. in A

2Fg

Contra Fg.

6Hn. in F

4Tr. In Bb

3Trb.

B.Trb.

Euphonium

Tba

Percussion (3 Players):

P. 1: Timpani

P.2: Tubular Bells, B.D.

P.3 Glock, Tam-tam , B.D.

2 Harps

Strings: Violins I (16), Violins II (14) Violas (12), Violoncellos (10) Double Basses (8)

REDUCED Instrumentation:

2Fl.

Picc

2Ob.

Cor Anglais

3Cl. in A

2Fg

Contra Fg.

4Hn. in F

3Tr. In Bb

2Trb.

B.Trb.

Tba

Percussion (3 Players):

P. 1: Timpani

P.2: Tubular Bells, B.D.

P.3 Glock, Tam-tam , B.D.

Strings: Violins I (14), Violins II (12) Violas (10), Violoncellos (8) Double Basses (6)

Programme Note

A Seasong was commissioned by the Royal Academy of Music as a piece to be performed alongside Sir Henry Wood's Fantasia on British Sea Songs and to commemorate his life and legacy. I choose to respond in a natural, simple and sincere way, hence the title does not imply ambiguous or hidden connotations. As I have grown up around the sea at my native city of Varna: on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, and the sea has always been a really important influence upon my aesthetics, I thought I could not convey more natural and sincere response to this commission and occasion than to create 'a real Seasong' as I imagine it. The work continues the line of development of a particular compositional language and technique based upon the theory and practice of Eastern-Orthodox Chant, which is the core of my research and practice over the past years. A particular inspiration for this piece is a chant for Holy Saturday: 'O ye Seas and Floods, bless ye the Lord: praise and exalt him above all forever.' It also reveals my understanding of homage as connected to the idea of eternal life - it is not a threnody. In technical terms, within the broader context of 'morphing modality and polyphony', it also features occasionally some particular modes that are not octave-repeating, and are seminal to the medieval Orthodox chant theory, as well as the idea of 'exigisis' of a chant, understood as a particular formulaic approach to development of monodic lines, as pertinent to the research of Prof. Elena Toncheva. In general, the whole piece could be considered an 'exigisis' of the short and simple monodic chant mentioned above.