Invictus (The Unconquered) was commissioned by and for the United States Army Ground Forces Band, Major Otis C. French, Commander and Conductor, and is dedicated to the Soldiers of the Army’s Forces Command, General John W. Hendrix, Commanding General. It was first performed on 13th June 2001 as part of the US Army’s annual birthday celebrations. Specifically, the piece is dedicated to various units of Forces Command, including the Active Army, Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Combat Forces, Combat Support Forces, Combat Service Support Forces and the Civilian Forces.
Invictus opens with a robust theme from the brass against a strongly chordal accompaniment. The mood subsides with a gentle flute solo leading into the major part of the work, a sinister march in modal style. A bridge passage with bubbling 16th notes in the low clarinets leads to a second main subject, a passionate and turbulent theme over more continuous 16th notes. An attempt to re-introduce the march theme is brutally interrupted and a slow, central section is introduced. This opens with a reflective theme, which includes a clarinet solo and builds to an emotional climax for the whole band. This subsides and the original tempo reasserts itself with an exciting build to a reintroduction of the march theme, but this time the second subject returns triumphantly in the major key and leads to an emphatic and victorious close.
The Composer: Philip Sparke
Philip Sparke was born in London and studied composition, trumpet and piano at the Royal College of Music, where he gained an Associate of the Royal College of Music (ARCM)
It was at the College that his interest in bands arose. He played in the College wind orchestra and also formed a brass band among the students, writing several works for both ensembles.
At that time, his first published works appeared - Concert Prelude (brass band) and Gaudium (wind band). A growing interest in his music led to several commissions, his first major one being for the Centennial Brass Band Championships in New Zealand – The Land of the Long White Cloud.
Further commissions followed from individual bands, various band associations and the BBC, for whom he three times won the EBU New Music for Band Competition (with Slipstream, Skyrider and Orient Express). He has written for brass band championships in New Zealand, Switzerland, Holland, Australia and the UK, including three times for the National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall, and his test pieces are constantly in use wherever brass bands can be found.
A close association with banding in Japan led to a commission (Celebration) from and eventual recording of his music with the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra. This opened the door worldwide to his wind band music and led to several commissions, particularly from the United States. In 1996 the US Air Force Band commissioned and recorded Dance Movements, which won the prestigious Sudler Prize in 1997. In 2005 Music of the Spheres won the National Band Association/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest.
His conducting and adjudicating activities have taken him to most European countries, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the USA. He runs his own publishing company, Anglo Music Press, which he formed in May 2000. In September 2000 he was awarded the Iles Medal of the Worshipful Company of Musicians for his services to brass bands.
About Republic Polytechnic Wind Symphony (RPWS)
The Republic Polytechnic Wind Symphony (RPWS) began its humble musical path on 1st August 2003 as part of the school’s Centre for Culture and Communication’s multi-faceted cultural activities by their own RP students.
Loading ...
Email This Post
