First Edition choir (SATB), 2 trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba, percussion Catalogue Number: HV111 Duration: approx. 27 minutes Conductor's score and parts Hire only —
please contact us Study score: £18.00 Vocal score: £11.00 Note that the instrumental parts and conductor's score are for hire only. Vocal scores are available for purchase (see
above) as well as a study score. Complete sets of vocal parts purchased will include a piano rehearsal part. Please contact
Hop Vine Music for further details. Terpsichoreana (words by Nia
Williams) was given its premiere in Thame, Oxfordshire, on 10November 2012 by the Oxford Pro Musica Singers
and an ensemble directed by Michael Smedley.
Composer's Note
Terpsichore was one of the nine muses of classical mythology. She presided over dance, particularly that which incorporated
choral singing, and is thus the ideal figure to evoke for a set of choral dances, the scenarios of which may be summarised as
follows:
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Pavane & Galliard: Mediaeval Procession
A procession approaches from the distance to the stately beat of a Pavane, and its arrival is celebrated by the
dancing of its lively counterpart, the Galliard. Both lyrics and music for this latter section owe more than a little
to the Galliard's more athletic cousin, La Volta, a dance beloved of Queen Elizabeth I.
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Tarantella: Tarantula!
In popular folk-lore the lively Tarantella was danced in the hope that such vigorous activity might help sweat away
the poison of a tarantula's bite. Incongruously, the elusive arachnid is represented by the scurrying of the tuba
and the panic of the crowd is emphasised by the siren-like alarums of the trombone and percussion effects.
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Gavotte & Foxtrot: English country house party, 1920s
In the grounds of a country house, a minor stately home, perhaps, typified by the graceful metre of the Gavotte,
dusk is falling. The interior of the house is illuminated as guests gather to dance to a jazzy 1920s number played on
an old wind-up gramophone. As the revelry fades away there is a moment of elegaic reflection and the calls of owls are
heard out in the stillness of the darkened parkland.
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Valse Antique: Figures on an ancient vase
Imagine, if you will, that you are standing in front of a museum display case in which an ancient vase rotates
slowly on its pedestal. Upon its surface dancers in elegant poses are depicted, frozen for ever in their terpsichorean
display, their youthful beauty never fading beneath the warmth of a Mediterranean sky, the surf lapping gently on the
shore...
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Samba — Salsa: Dances of the Sun and Moon
Sounds of the sea from two thousand or more years ago blend into a contemporary scene on a beach on the far side of
the Atlantic. In the burning heat of the day, a languorous Samba is danced. Night falls and in the cool of the evening
the pace gradually increases as revellers gather to dance the night away beneath the moon.
Ensemble
- Choir: Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass
- Brass Quintet (2 Trumpets, French Horn. Trombone and Tuba)
- Percussion (2 players): Side Drum, Triangle, Cymbals, Temple Block, Castanets, Maracas, Tambourine, Tubular Bells,
Glockenspiel, Xylophone
What people say ... "... a splendid and highly original piece of work. ... The score is
laid out very well. I hadn't heard of Hop Vine. They deserve recognition."Gwyn Arch (dir. Reading Male Choir) |