A Northumbrian Anthem for brass band

You may think it underwhelming that all I seem to manage these days is short tuneful pieces and folk arrangements, but there are good reasons for it, most of them not suitable for a blog of this kind.

Here is a version for brass band of my own A Northumbrian Anthem of 2018. I am a novice on this medium, and the mind is still boggling after so much transposition, but after so many years in the Northeast of England it would be something of an omission not to have written at least one short piece. There have been other adjustments too, which may now find their way back into the organ version.

Best listen on proper speakers or headphones.

Agustín Fernández · A Northumbrian Anthem (2020 version for brass band)

Première of LoA at Sage Gateshead

I was not able to attend the première of LoA on 22 September. The reports are heartening, both about how the piece was performed and about the reception by the audience.

A première is a difficult thing to miss and this one in particular was special in a number of ways. It is an intensely personal piece, condensing in ten minutes many of the experiences, thoughts and feelings accumulated over twenty-three years of life, work and love in the Northeast of England. The tune Lads of Alnwick, which underlies LoA, followed me around for much of this time, energising me with its enigmatic drive. LoA also represents a triumph over adversity, both in terms of the disabled musicians' belief-defying achievement and of my being able to write the piece in difficult circumstances.

I thank Sage Gateshead for the commission, the players of Royal Northern Sinfonia for pouring their musicianship into this music, and the four guest musicians Clarence Adoo, Adrian Lee, Gem Lunt and Stephanie West. I hope to hear the piece before too long.

Meanwhile, here is the usual consolation in the form of a computer simulation. This is the version for ten instruments, which replaces the perhaps unrepeatable - or at least hard to repeat - combination that included Clarence Adoo's unique Head Space instrument.