Band

Duration: 7:30 minutes

This festive overture by the Austrian composer Thomas Doss, whose father was German, is intended to be a symbol of the friendship between Germany and Austria, and the countries that border on these two states. In times of union and cooperation, the European thinking should be one of tolerance and openness when it comes to national identities and cultures. European culture has many faces that is what makes it unique. The shadows of the past, however, should never be forgotten, but they must not obscure the present and the future. Many ghosts wander through this overture, and those who listen carefully will also hear a great master of classical music ghost around. A creative new opening work for any concert.

Composer PHilip Sparke has long been fascinated by history's pioneers. In all fields of human activity, there has been someone with enormous vision who has made the first step into the unknown. Explorers have found new lands, doctors have discovered new medicines and scientists are pushing the bounds of technology ever further. But there was always one 'pathfinder', someone who was not afraid to go one step further than anyone before him. The march is dedicated to those pioneers who have risked everything for the sake of their vision.

With this new suite for concert band Franco Cesarini draws on the rich repertoire of folk songs from the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of northern Italy. Between the 16th and 17th Century this rural region developed the furlana, a brilliant dance in 6/8 time. This catchy dance soon spread throughout Europe and became more cultivated. Franois Couperin (1668-1733), Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) and Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) all composers of the 18th century composed furlane and in the 20th Century Maurice Ravel used afurlana dance his Tombeau de Couperin. Franco Cesarini follows this great tradition by using the furlana as the basis for this major new concert work.