Stone, Mountain, Magic
Tom Davoren
Commissioned by the University of Kanas Wind Ensemble (Dr. Paul Popiel & Dr. Matthew Smith) and a consortium of contributors. Premiered in 2019 by the University of Kansas Wind Ensemble (USA) and Central Band of the Royal Air Force (UK).
• Principal Director of Music Royal Air Force Music Services (Wing Commander Piers Morell)
• The Band of the Welsh Guards (Major David Barringer, Major Stewart Halliday and WO2 David Hatton)
• Montclair State University University Wind Symphony (Dr. Thomas McCauley)
• Brooklyn Wind Symphony (Jeff W. Ball)
• University of Wisconsin Stevens Point Symphonic Wind Band (Dr. Michael Butler)
• California State University San Bernardino Symphonic Band (Dr. Nicholas Bratcher)
• Yale University Concert Band (Dr. Thomas C. Duffy)
• Limestone College Wind Ensemble (Dr. Patrick Carney)
• Valdosta State University Wind Ensemble (Dr. Joe H Brashier)
• The Home Guard Band of Gothenburg (Anders Lundin)
In ten unbroken minutes Stone, Mountain, Magic tries to symbolise three stores from Welsh mythology, each touching on a different region of my native Wales.
King Arthur's Stone is a local landmark near my family home on the Gower peninsula in South Wales. Sitting atop Cefn Bryn, one of the highest points in the area, the stone itself is a 25 tonne quartz boulder which marks a Neolithic burial tomb. Alongside Stonehenge and Silbury Hill the movement of the stone was known as one of the 'three mighty achievements of the Isle of Britain'. The folk tale tells of King Arthur flinging the stone from his shoe while in Carmarthenshire, West Wales. As the stone was touched by Royal hand, it grew magically as it flew miles through the air into the monument seen today. The music
balances contrast between the stoic and muscular nature of the folk tale and stone itself, with the beauty of the aspect of its location, all while growing in intensity and lightly intimating a sound of magic; a consistent undercurrent in Welsh folk culture.
Cadair Idris is a mountain in North Wales named after a mythical giant. Its name is taken from the distinctive shape of the mountain; the etymology of the Welsh word ‘cadair’ being seat / throne. The music here is less representative of the giant Idris, or his sculpting of the mountain into his seat, but more a capturing of the intense and varied beauty of North Wales. Lakes, stone outcrops, rolling hills, birdsong and the imposing meeting of the land and tumultuous sky have all found their way into the musical picture.
The West Wales town of Carmarthen is home to Merlin's Oak, once a great tree growing in the centre of town but now a fragment encased in the county museum. Though the planting of the tree is likely attributed to a schoolmaster in the 1600's the folk tale states the if the Oak, a symbol of a curse by Merlin the Wizard that protected the town, were ever to fall then there would be a great flood! The music brings to mind coloristic flourishes of magic spells set against walls and torrents of running water.
Tom Davoren (Brooklyn, 2019)
Difficulty: 5
Duration: c. 12 minutes
Publisher : Tom Davoren Music
Further titles available from www.tomdavoren.co.uk
Copyright Tom Davoren 2019