Journey of the Lone Wolf, Simon Dobson. Score Brass band

Journey of the Lone Wolf (Brass Band/Score ) Simon Dobson

Journey of the Lone Wolf tells the story of the hungarian composer Béla Bartók. It was commissioned by Dr. Nicholas Childs for Black Dyke Band, who gave the first performance on Sunday 26 January 2014 at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester as part of the Royal Northern College of Music Festival of Brass.

Duration: 15 minutes.
Level: Championship

Also Available:
Journey of the Lone Wolf (Brass Band parts/Score)

Genre(s): Contemporary
Difficulty Level: Advanced
Grade(s): Grade 6
Score/Parts: Score &
Instruments: Brass Band and Percussion Ensemble

Set as the CHAMPIONSHIP SECTION test piece for the 2016 Finals of the British Brasss Band Championships.

The Lone Wolf of the title is the great Hungarian composer and folklorist Béla Bartók.

Bartóks journey took him from the hills of the Balkans to the heart of the new world. His singular vision may have meant a life out in the cold, a life without warmth and love, a life without true happiness, a death mourned by a few in a strange land. The first of the three linked movements is capturing the Peasants Song and follows the young Bartók and fellow composer Zoltan Kolday as they embark on Summertime adventures through the Hungarian countryside to collect and catalogue the astonishing variety of Gypsy and folk music heard in the Balkan hills. The arrival of WW1 plunges Bartóks beloved Hungary into chaos. Bartók was at times a cold man, aloof and lonely. The occasional moments of tenderness he showed are portrayed in Night Music. His brief but intense affairs speak of a love he could only long for. Jazz is my night music and here there are hints of what Bartók may have heard in the USA later in his life. Having been forced by the worlds evils to leave his homeland of Hungary for America Bartók, the anti-fascist, felt isolated and angry. In the finale, Flight and Fancy, we hear his longing for a simpler time of Gypsy folk dances as well as his maturity and depth as a composer finally exploring deeper colours and darker themes. Simon Dobson