Piano Concerto no. 1
The three movements of my Concerto for Piano and Orchestra are inspired by the scenery, geography and history of County Wicklow. It was commissioned by the Wicklow County Council Per Cent for Art Scheme after my proposal won the Music Commission, and is based on my own experiences of time in Bray, Wicklow and Greystones as well as ideas from local children and the members of Bray Arts.
The first movement musically describes a walk up Bray Head that I undertook one sunny day in early 2007 in order to calm my nerves before the final round interview the next day! It was a beautiful clear, sunny day, with views for miles around at the top. When back in Cambridge and about to start my concerto (about a year after this walk) the vivid memories (and many photos I took!) were my first source of inspiration.
The notes of the main theme of the first movement are based on the various names that Bray has been given historically: Breagh, Bre, Bree and several others. (Luckily many of the letters of this town correspond directly to musical notes – B is the note b, E the note e etc.) The movement begins with a description in music of a leisurely walk along the promenade (listen to the “left-right-left-right” rhythms in the strings and piano at the very beginning). At the base of Bray Head, the ascent is gradual, with many gnarled tree roots lining the path (listen out for the bassoons) but the climb soon becomes steeper, and more uneven (hear the rising and falling motives in the piano). The first climactic point in the movement describes the first panoramic views to be seen half way up Bray Head, where the trees become sparser.
The music changes mood here with a short piano solo inspired by quartzite (the metamorphic rock which is Bray Head’s main building block). When sandstone is metamorphosed to quartzite through pressure and heat, the individual quartz grains re-crystallize to form an interlocking mosaic of quartz crystals. This section of the movement is inspired by the shimmering surface of quartzite, as well as portraying the continuing walk towards the summit, with ever more glorious views. The music grows and grows until a triumphant melody (in double octaves in the piano, and in unison in the winds and trumpets) describes reaching the summit and seeing the concrete cross (depicted by a chorale like section with huge orchestral and piano chords). The movement ends with a recapitulation of the beginning, walking back home along the promenade, and eventually disappearing into the distance.
In the second movement, the majesty and serenity of the Greystones Cliffs are conjured up with monolithic piano chords and lyrical, peaceful orchestral melodies.
Again inspired by a walk that I took, but less directly programmatic, the music describes the magnificence of the cliffs as you approach them (with their colour also influencing the harmony of the music, as I am inclined to synaesthetic perception). Once on top of the cliffs, a flute melody over string chords portrays the peace and tranquillity to be had on a clear day, and then a short orchestral interlude depicts the many birds that make the cliffs their home (I listened again and again to the calls of the Kittiwake, Peregrine falcon and Mute Swan until I was able to write their calls in notes). The re-entry of the solo piano describes looking down to the harbour from the cliff top and seeing the water glimmering in the sunlight. The entire movement is based on these various musical depictions.
The final movement is inspired by the rhythms and sounds of the railways that helped Bray and Greystones to thrive. Originally the idea of basing a movement on trains came from reading about the history of Bray, and the horrific train crash on Bray Head in 1867, but in my concerto I simply wanted to celebrate the positive effects of the railway on the local area. I was told about Peter McNiff’s book “Railway Encounters” by many people in Greystones, and found it tremendously interesting and inspiring. Although the last movement is primarily a celebration of the trains themselves (incorporating many real steam train rhythms which at times give Bobby an extremely tough time on the piano!), I took direct inspiration from McNiff’s book in parts. The chapter about the incredibly hard work involved in the construction of the Bray line (tunnelling through the rock of Bray Head) inspired the huge chords of the middle section, The piano’s huge “low-high, low-high” chords are intended to represent the shovelling of heavy rocks (workers worked seven days a week, without extra pay, in order to complete the new line). The climax of the work depicts in music the magnificent views that must have been had from the train when it travelled along the side of the cliffs, with a big tune in the violins and a piano part that mimics the train travelling along at full speed. At the end of the movement I wanted to give everybody in the orchestra a chance for a cadenza, so (after the final piano cadenza) each instrument has a few bars solo (accompanied by the piano) before a build up to the final chord.