Duration: c. 14 minutes

 

Audio:

 

 

 

Publisher: STUDIO MUSIC COMPANY

 

Programme Notes:

 

ROYAL WINDSOR PORTRAITS was commissioned by, and is dedicated to, the Regimental Band of Her Majesty’s Coldstream Guards and their Director of Music Lieutenant Colonel Graham O. Jones MBE and in celebration of the Royal Palace of Windsor.

 

The work is a tribute to ‘Royal Windsor’ and although played in one continuous movement consists of seven sections or cameos:

 

1. Royal Fanfare and Salute

A brass fanfare leads into an introductory march setting the scene in a typically British style.

 

2. Renaissance Court Dance

The mood is suddenly changed and we are transported back to the court of Henry VIII who also composed the essence of the chorus which is adapted from his Pastyme with Good Companye.

 

3. Royal Reflection

The addition of a harpsichord gives an Elizabethan flavour to this reflective interlude. The hymn tune St. George is first presented here, broken up in a calm pure version.

 

4. Regency Ball

A waltz in a late 19th century Victorian style.

 

5. Portrait of a Lady

A vocal number (‘If Only You Could Say’) after a painting in The King’s Dressing Room by Sir Peter Paul Rubens simply and enigmatically entitled ‘Portrait of a Lady’ – who was she then, where is she now…

 

6. Procession of the Royal Knights

Depicting the Ceremony of the Order of the Garter. The texture slowly builds to lead into:

 

7. St. George’s Hymn and Finale

Based on the hymn tune St. George (music by G.J. Elvey and text by H. Alford): Come, ye thankful people, come. The opening Salute and Fanfare is then revisited to form a Coda and conclude the work in a grand and noble manner.

 

Instrumentation:

Vocal Solo (amplified)

Piccolo, Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinets 1.2.3, Bb Bass Clarinet, Bassoon,

Eb Alto Saxophones 1.2, Bb Tenor Saxophone, Eb Baritone Saxophone,

Bb Trumpets 1*.2.3.4, F Horns 1.2.3.4, Trombones 1.2.3, Euphonium, Tubas 1.2,

Double Bass (dbl. Electric Bass Guitar), Piano (dbl. Harpsichord or Synthesizer),

Timpani, Percussion 1.2

 

*Bb Tpt. 1 can double on optional B flat Piccolo Trumpet

 

Percussion Requirements:

Timpani (doubling Suspended Cymbal, Bass Drum)

 

2 Percussion - Suspended Cymbal, Clashed Cymbals, Tenor Drum, Triangle, Glockenspiel, Tubular Bells, Xylophone, Side Drum, Vibraphone

 

Available Recordings:

 

 

Royal Windsor Portraits

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