I recently posted about
the new DVD that showcases the film Festival in London 1951 and noted the
musical score was by Willam Alwyn.
Alwyn’s Festival
March was composed as
part of Festival of Britain celebrations. The Festival itself was held some six
years after the end of the Second World War when the country was still in a
period of considerable austerity. Furthermore the date was exactly one hundred
years after the Great Exhibition of 1851. The concept of the Festival of
Britain was to showcase the nation’s achievements both at home and abroad,
scientific, artistic and manufacturing.
It was at this time that
the modernistic Royal Festival Hall as inaugurated by King George the Sixth and
other members of the Royal Family and VIPs.
William Alywn was
commissioned by the Arts Council of Great Britain to compose a celebratory
march in the same genre as those of Edward Elgar’s Pomp
and Circumstance and
William Walton’s Crown Imperial Marches. Mary Alwyn, the
composer’s wife, suggests that at first the composer struggled with this
commisison and notes that the original sketches for the march were scored in
4:4 times. However, after much effort the music began to take shape after he
restructured the piece in 12:8 time. The work remains a minor masterpiece of
its kind.
The Festival
March opens with the
usual fanfares and strong chords before it quietens down to allow the march to
begin. Interestingly this material is presented more as a procession with a
number of tableaux rather than a straight forward march. The music soon reaches
an impressive climax before settling down to the 'trio.' This theme is
introduced by unison violins and cellos before being repeated ‘grandioso’ by
the full orchestra. After a brief bridge passage the powerful march theme is
reprised. Naturally, in like manner to his exemplars, Alwyn brings back the
'trio' theme in all its glory. The work ends impressively.
No one listening to this
march could be unimpressed. It surprises me that it is so little known amongst
British music enthusiast who will readily admit to an appreciation of Walton's
and Elgar’s marches. Critics were impressed at the time of its first
performance but suggest that Alwyn had a lighter touch in his scoring and
generally produced a march that was “more sprightly, and less grand and
martial” than his predecessors. Another reviewer noted that Alwyn had managed
to avoid the “conventional and wilful.” Yet a march designed for a 'Festival of
Britain' or such event is surely largely redundant if it is not “broad and
swaggering,” and complete with a "damn good tune.”
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