Sparke, Philip - Not Before Time

Not Before Time is one of a pair of pieces which were commissioned by Koninklijke Fanfare Kempenbloei Achel - Ivan Meylemans, conductor - as part of their programme for the 2022 World Music Contest, held in Kerkrade, The Netherlands. The orchestra emerged victorious winners of the „Fanfare Concert Division“. The piece is a cousin of the composer’s Music of the Spheres (which opens ‘before time’ when t=0) and begins with chaotic scales and dense chord clusters reminiscent of the earlier work. After a rhythmic, multi-metric passage, a ‘diabolic’ 7/8 tune appears in the saxes, which is taken up by the full orchestra. The texture suddenly dissipates to introduce a series of building flugel horn clusters under a rapid sax ostinato. Interruptions by the lower brass build into new material which leads to a minor-key chorale with florid sax decorations. Opening passages are then reintroduced until the chorale reappears with the full orchestra, leading to a triumphal coda. This piece can be programmed to be played immediately before its partner piece, Elegy: Echoes of Lives Past (AMP 506-020), which shares the same chorale material.