Sarabande

Instrumentation: 2. (I & II = picc). 2 (II = ca). 3 (III = bcl). 2 (II = cbsn). - 4.2.3.1. - timp. - 3 prc. - hp. - pno. - strings.

Percussion: Bass Drum; Tam-tam, Crotales; Almglocken; Tam-tam, Tubular Bells.

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PROGRAMME NOTE

Originally a fast, lascivious Spanish dance that was considered disreputable and banned in Spain in 1538, theSarabande was later slowed down and incorporated into baroque dance suites. Often placed in the very middle or surrounded by lively Courantes and Gigues, the Sarabande as we now know it is a slow, processional, courtly dance in binary form (AB), in triple meter, that begins without an upbeat.

My Sarabande is generally in triple time – though my approach to its rhythmic structure is far more fluid; and the piece is broadly in binary form, though I add a short coda at the end.

The first part primarily features the string section – muted and played dolce espressivo – with the main theme of the piece heard in the opening bars: a simple motif of a rising minor 6th that falls a minor 3rd (D, B♭, G).

The second part sees a series of florid woodwind solos – piccolo, oboe, flute, clarinet, cor anglais, and finally bassoon and bass clarinet – that builds to an ecstatic climax for full orchestra, with brass double tonguing ‘as fast as possible’. The piece ends with a brief coda where the material from the opening is brought back – a mere shadow of the opening bars – this time played on harp harmonics with the strings played with the bow col legno tratto, ‘half wood and half hair’.

In many ways my Sarabande is not a Sarabande at all, but rather a response to the structural parameters laid out above. In it, I have attempted to capture the stately nature of the baroque version of the dance, but also –perhaps – some of the sensuality of its original form.