Crees, Eric - Orage

Highly dramatic work for 16 trombones. In the summer of 2001 I spent a family holiday in the Provencal village of St. Saturnin d'Apt in the Cotes de Luberon. All the hilltop villages had prepared for the celebration of Bastille Day on the 14th of July and in this stunning setting, each was due to set off fireworks, village by village, in a kind of Mexican wave. However, around 9pm ominous dark clouds and distant rumbles drew in from the Mediterranean coast: a thunder and lightening storm was slowly approaching us, unpredictable in its movements, at once frightening yet fascinating in its vast proportions. It eventually reached us in a terrifying climax, finally retreating northwards over the mountains. The official festivities were blown and rained off but we were rewarded with a natural spectacle that would have made the mere fireworks of man seem paley insignificant. Orage (storm in French) is an attempt to evoke the atmosphere of this experience but is also written partially as an educational tool: as its musical effects rely more on precise dynamics and intonation rather than overt virtuosity, it may be comfortably be performed by players of mixed ability. Although scored for sixteen trombones its largely steady pace would make it equally, it not more imposing with massed forces (as in the first performance where all parts were doubled). The piece was written for the Bone-Lab week at Dartington in 2001 and given it's premiere, conducted by the composer, in the Great Hall on 17th August. It is dedicated to Bone-Lab's enthusiastic initiator, Roger Argente. Eric Crees