Note for the first performance 

When I was asked by the BBC Concert Orchestra to write a piece in celebration of their 50^th Jubilee, I thought almost straight away of composing something that would in some way serve as a portrait of this wonderful orchestra, showing perhaps some of the variety in their  performances and broadcasts. They are as well-known for their light music broadcasts as they are for their performances of Broadway shows and avant-garde music. (I have fond memories of the Orchestra’s performance my very way out Voices of Sleep at the Proms in the 1980s.)  So it was always at the back of mind that I should somehow try to convey some of these different areas. I knew that I had about 15 minutes of music to write, and began to develop the idea of a 4 movement dance suite that would serve as a kind of orchestral showpiece. Jubilee Dances, then, is a very upbeat, accessible piece, written in a way that (I hope) is appropriate to the orchestra and its Jubilee.

I’ve applied the term ‘dances’ in a very loose way. The music is often more dance-like than pure dance, and only in the final Hop do you hear an extended dance form – and even here the nominal waltz frequently threatens to disintegrate as notes are lopped off the triple-time beat. The first movement (Tucket) opens with 6 horns announcing the theme with their bells raised up in the air, and proceeds to a pyrotechnical orchestral display in which each section of the orchestra is explored and celebrated. The 2^nd (slow) movement is an orchestral blues, and I’ve given it the subtitle of “Friday Night”, which of course in BBC Concert Orchestra terms means “Music Night.”  I’ve featured woodwind and brass quite a lot here - much of the melodic material is given to the cor anglais, oboe and flute, and there are also little solos for trombone and muted trumpet. Once again I’ve tried to capture an essential element of the Concert Orchestra, in this case applied to the genre of  symphonic jazz. The 3^rd movement (Dash) is a bit more serious - a fast and furious scherzo once again featuring a lot of writing for solo instruments. I’ve deliberately kept the textures as transparent as possible, to allow the orchestra’s marvellous solo playing to come through. And so we come to the final Hop,  with its quirky ‘missing beats’ explaining the title. I’ve never written anything like this before, but I have to admit it was great fun to do! Happy Birthday to the BBC Concert Orchestra!!!

Derived from an interview with Brendan Beals