OVERTURE: BRIGHTON BEACH by Paul Lewis
for orchestra
Goodmusic Concert Originals GMCO138
Catalogue Number: GMCO138
Difficulty level: E What's this?
ISMN: 9790222299375
Orchestration: Piccolo, Flute, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets in Bb, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns in F, 3 Trumpets in Bb, 3 Trombones, Tuba, Timpani
Percussion (3 players - Triangle, Wood Block, Tambourine, Cymbals, Snare Drum, Tam-tam, Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Bass Drum, Vibraslap, Rattle, Tubular Bells [C,D,E]), Piano, Harp
Strings (Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola, Cello, Bass)
I was educated at Brighton College but left shortly before my sixteenth birthday in order to take up a job in music publishing. I began work on this overture in 1959 during my last term at school, and it was only at the end of 2015 that, in response to a commission for a piece to celebrate the college's new state-of-the-art music centre, I actually finished it! It is in effect a totally new composition however; all that remains of the original piece is the actual theme tune - a jolly little melodic fragment that has persistently played in my head during the intervening years - and the idea of a middle section in which the orchestra mimics a military band playing the stirring old march song "Sussex by the Sea", long considered the unofficial Sussex county anthem.
The overture is therefore an evocation of Brighton seaside in the 1950s, pre-Mods and Rockers riots of the 60s and certainly pre-Kemp Town nudist beach! It was a comparatively innocent world of post-war gaiety: of seaside landladies, candy-floss-eating day-trippers, Punch and Judy, beauty contests and paddle steamer trips from the pier. A military band puts in an appearance, as does the giant fairground organ that was stationed at Peter Pan's Playground. Finally a fanfare blazes out the name of Brighton College and the overture ends with a hearty festive flourish. Paul Lewis
A PACK includes a full score, string parts 4/4/3/4/2 and all wind, brass and percussion parts.
Duration 9½ minutes
Percussion (3 players - Triangle, Wood Block, Tambourine, Cymbals, Snare Drum, Tam-tam, Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Bass Drum, Vibraslap, Rattle, Tubular Bells [C,D,E]), Piano, Harp
Strings (Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola, Cello, Bass)
I was educated at Brighton College but left shortly before my sixteenth birthday in order to take up a job in music publishing. I began work on this overture in 1959 during my last term at school, and it was only at the end of 2015 that, in response to a commission for a piece to celebrate the college's new state-of-the-art music centre, I actually finished it! It is in effect a totally new composition however; all that remains of the original piece is the actual theme tune - a jolly little melodic fragment that has persistently played in my head during the intervening years - and the idea of a middle section in which the orchestra mimics a military band playing the stirring old march song "Sussex by the Sea", long considered the unofficial Sussex county anthem.
The overture is therefore an evocation of Brighton seaside in the 1950s, pre-Mods and Rockers riots of the 60s and certainly pre-Kemp Town nudist beach! It was a comparatively innocent world of post-war gaiety: of seaside landladies, candy-floss-eating day-trippers, Punch and Judy, beauty contests and paddle steamer trips from the pier. A military band puts in an appearance, as does the giant fairground organ that was stationed at Peter Pan's Playground. Finally a fanfare blazes out the name of Brighton College and the overture ends with a hearty festive flourish. Paul Lewis
A PACK includes a full score, string parts 4/4/3/4/2 and all wind, brass and percussion parts.
Duration 9½ minutes
