The test-pieces to be performed at the 2016 Swiss National Championships in Montreux on the weekend of the 26th/27th November have been announced.
Music for Battle Creek
After being used at the Senior Cup contest in May, Philip Sparke's fearsome 'Music for Battle Creek' will test the elite Swiss bands hoping to claim the National title as well as the qualification place for the 2017 European Championship in Ostend. They will also perform an own-choice work.
In the First Section, the contenders will have to capture the poetic, if rather bizarre story-telling of 'L'Effect Divers' — four tales of the unexpected by Belgian composer Stan Nieuwenhuis (from a escalating neighbourhood dispute and an amnesic car driver, to a loveless mafia boss and the last floral will intentions of a millionaire banker).
'L'Effect Divers' won the European Composers Competition in 2015, whilst another work that was also first heard at that event in Germany will be used in the Second Division, with '…As a Glow' by Ludovic Neurohr.
Personal inspiration
Its deeply personal inspiration comes from a theme written by Italian baroque composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi that reflects the suffering of the composer's grandfather who was entering the final stages of his long, painful battle against the ravages of cancer.
The 'glow' is the life force that still burns bright in his eyes despite the obvious pain he feels from his illness.
Graces of Love
Elegance and style will be to the fore in the Third Division with Olivier Waespi's wonderfully constructed homage to the renaissance court life of 17th century Milan and its famous dance master Cesare Negri — 'The Graces of Love'. It was used as the set-work at the 2015 Third Section National Finals in Cheltenham.
Wu Xing
Another composition that has been extensively used throughout Europe will test the Fourth Division contenders. Philip Sparke's 'Evolution — Five Stages of Change', is inspired by the Chinese philosophy of Wu Xing which relates to meditation, sorrow, fear, anger and joy.
It was last used in the UK in 2015 as the Third Section regional set-work.
Philip Sparke's fearsome 'Music for Battle Creek' will test the elite Swiss bands hoping to claim the National title as well as the qualification place for the 2017 European Championship in Ostend4BR
Set-works:
Elite Division: Music for Battle Creek (Philip Sparke)
First Division: L'Effect Divers (Stan Nieuwenhuis)
Second Division: …As a Glow (Ludovic Neurohr)
Third Division: Graces of Love (Oliver Waespi)
Fourth Division: Evolution — Five States of Change (Philip Sparke)
For more information go to:
