Saxon (brass band)

My first and only work for brass band, Saxon was commissioned by the New Zealand Brass Bands Association as the A-Grade test piece for the year 2000 Shell Millennium International Bands Festival.

I had a great time writing this piece, I can certainly understand the attraction of composing for brass band. I'm pretty certain I wrote percussion parts that were asking a lot of the players, compared to their normal fare.

I had the rare experience of hearing the piece performed over and over again by the various bands in the competition. Later on I received the recordings of the adjudicator giving a live commentary on each band's performance in real-time. That was very interesting! Like hearing a live sports commentary.

The outcome that year was: Woolston Brass, conducted by David Gallaher, won the A-Grade competition at the 2000 New Zealand Brass Band Championships. The contest, held in April 2000, saw Woolston Brass win with a total score of 293 points, placing first in the set test piece (148 points) and first in their own choice (145 points).

After the competition I went to celebrate with the bands. I was quickly overwhelmed and unable to keep up with the energy and intensity (and imbibing!) and left early. It's an incredible culture.

My other memory is the headache of getting the transpositions right in the score. I know this will all come with experience but at the time it was a challenge. I remember receiving the 'finished' much-proofread score from the typesetter. I thought, just before handing it over to the NZBBA I might listen to the sibelius file playback (something I rarely do). I ran it and realised the transpositions were mostly wrong - it sounded incredible, a highly rhythmic, discordant cacophony. We fixed everything and sent it off.

I love the piece and would love to write a follow up one day.

Full Instrumentation

Cornet, Repiano Cornet, Cornet, Flugelhorn, Eb Horn, Baritone, Trombone, Bass Trombone, Euphonium, Basses, Percussion, Mixed Percussion

Eb Soprano Cornet (1)
Solo Bb Cornets (4)
Bb Repiano Cornet
2nd Bb Cornets (2)
3rd Bb Cornets (2)

Bb Flugel Horn (1)
1st Eb Horn
2nd Eb Horn
3rd Eb Horn

1st Bb Baritone
2nd Bb Baritone
1st Tenor Trombone
2nd Tenor Trombone
Bass Trombone

Bb Euphoniums (2)
Eb Basses (2)
Bb Basses (2)

1st Percussion
2nd Percussion
3rd Percussion

Percussion:

3 Timpani (low 1: D-A, 2: A-C, high 3: C-D), Bass Drum (large), TamTam (large) Snare Drum (pref. piccolo), Xylophone, Vibraphone, 3 Toms (high, middle, low), 2 Crash Cymbals, 3 Woodblocks, 2 Triangles, Glockenspiel

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It is recommended that three percussion stations be arranged as follows:

• ‍Station 1: Snare Drum, Crash Cymbal, 3 Toms, Triangle, Woodblock, Bass Drum nearby‍
• ‍Station 2: Timpani, Crash Cymbal Triangle, Woodblock‍
• Station 3: Vibraphone, Xylophone, Woodblock

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Review

PETER BALE, 4BARSREST.COM, APRIL 2004

The music shows some influence of minimalism, but seems more intricate, and certainly tests the band, with repeated listening bringing out different elements and strata that may go un-noticed at first.

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