Program Notes
Antiphonies was commissioned by Philip Pearson for Nicholas Childs and the Black Dyke Band, who premiered the work at the 2023 European Brass Band Championships at Malmö Live in Malmö, Sweden. The piece takes its inspiration from the music of William Byrd (c. 1540–1623), drawing particularly on motives from his motet Sing Joyfully. Central to the work is the idea of antiphony - the spatial and musical dialogue between separated instrumental groups. From the opening bars, fragments of Byrd’s material are passed between contrasting sections of the band, transforming the motives into almost spatial objects. This broad, resonant opening gives way to more linear writing as the music becomes increasingly rhythmic-driven, with rising virtuosity in both solo and full-ensemble passages. A contrasting slow section follows, exploring the lyrical potential of the opening material. Here, a gently rotating chaconne-like harmonic structure creates a new sound world, allowing melodic gestures to unfold through intimate exchanges between soloists and small chamber groupings within the ensemble. This sense of reflection is soon interrupted by a renewed fast section, featuring highly virtuosic and at times frantic material that propels the narrative forward with energetic force. After a climactic burst of brilliance, the music gradually subsides into its final transformation. Isolated soloists recall distant echoes of the earlier lyrical material before the sound sinks into the lowest registers of the band. From this depth, slow-moving waves of sound emerge, expanding into a final, expansive antiphonal sound field that brings the work to a close. Antiphonies is an homage to William Byrd, composed to mark the 400th anniversary of his death in 2023. It is the composer’s second engagement with English Renaissance music, following Audivi Media Nocte (2011), based on a motet by Thomas Tallis - Byrd’s teacher. While Audivi Media Nocte evokes the imagery of night, Antiphonies, with its luminous harmonies and radiant sound fields, is a work rooted firmly in daylight.
