AN OPTIMISTIC OVERTURE by Paul Lewis
for orchestra
Goodmusic Concert Originals GMCO139
Catalogue Number: GMCO139
Difficulty level: E What's this?
ISMN: 9790222299672
Orchestration: 2 Flutes db. Piccolos, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets in Bb, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns in F, 3 Trumpets in Bb, 3 Trombones, Timpani, Percussion (2 players – Glockenspiel, Snare Drum, Tam-tam, Tambourine, Triangle, Xylophone, Suspended Cymbal with soft sticks, Tubular Bells [C,E,G only]), Harp
Strings (Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola, Cello, Bass)
An Optimistic Overture was written in December 1971 for a light music competition and wasn't mentioned amongst the winners, but I didn't change the title. The following year it was rehearsed by the BBC Concert Orchestra but was never actually performed or broadcast, and still I didn't change the title. In more recent years, composer and record producer Philip Lane has three times asked me if he could include the work on various CDs of British light music; in each case I offered something else instead, believing that the overture deserved a special dedicatee and a special occasion on which to be unveiled. The occasion arrived in 2016 with the tenth English Music Festival, and the dedicatee could therefore be none other than the indefatigable Em Marshall-Luck, Founder and Festival Director, whose supreme optimism had sustained her through ten years mounting concerts of unjustly neglected English music. So the overture became a gift from one optimist to another, and is duly dedicated "To Em Marshall-Luck in celebration of the Tenth Anniversary English Music Festival". Paul Lewis
First performance given by the BBC Concert Orchestra under Martin Yates in the opening concert of the English Music Festival, Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire, May 27th 2016.
A PACK includes a full score, string parts 4/4/3/4/2 and all wind, brass and percussion parts.
Duration 4½ minutes
Strings (Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola, Cello, Bass)
An Optimistic Overture was written in December 1971 for a light music competition and wasn't mentioned amongst the winners, but I didn't change the title. The following year it was rehearsed by the BBC Concert Orchestra but was never actually performed or broadcast, and still I didn't change the title. In more recent years, composer and record producer Philip Lane has three times asked me if he could include the work on various CDs of British light music; in each case I offered something else instead, believing that the overture deserved a special dedicatee and a special occasion on which to be unveiled. The occasion arrived in 2016 with the tenth English Music Festival, and the dedicatee could therefore be none other than the indefatigable Em Marshall-Luck, Founder and Festival Director, whose supreme optimism had sustained her through ten years mounting concerts of unjustly neglected English music. So the overture became a gift from one optimist to another, and is duly dedicated "To Em Marshall-Luck in celebration of the Tenth Anniversary English Music Festival". Paul Lewis
First performance given by the BBC Concert Orchestra under Martin Yates in the opening concert of the English Music Festival, Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire, May 27th 2016.
A PACK includes a full score, string parts 4/4/3/4/2 and all wind, brass and percussion parts.
Duration 4½ minutes
