De hoc mundo

De hoc mundo (1991)

s sax, b cl, tpt, tbn, pno, 2 perc, 2 vln, vla, vcl, db

Duration: 6 minutes

This work began life in 1990 as a composition for solo piano, written for the American choreographer Scott Clark for a workshop presented at the Scottish Youth Dance Festival in the Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh.

The following year, the piece was expanded into its present instrumentation for Conceived Sheraton Plaza, a collaborative dance and music project with choreographer Andy Howitt. The project was inspired by the meeting between Igor Stravinsky and Dylan Thomas in America in 1953, when the two discussed the possibility of creating a new opera together.

Although the work neither quotes nor directly references Stravinsky’s music, it reflects something of his characteristic rhythmic energy and draws on aspects of the harmonic language associated with his neoclassical period.

First performed by Charlie Barber + Band at City United Reformed Church, Cardiff on 29 May 1993
with James Mainwaring (soprano saxophone), Mike Starr (baritone saxophone), Simon Reeves (trumpet), Gwyn Daniels (trombone), Jonathan Helm (percussion), Andy Cookson (percussion), David Appleton (piano), Alison Francis (violin), Tim Davies (violin), Richard Mainwaring (viola), Sharon McKinley (cello), Robin Hames (double bass)

Inages

Press

“The punchy and quizzical music of Charlie Barber has enlivened the scene in south Wales for some while. Listeners around the rest of Britain could hear it at full strength in Radio 3’s recent relay of his orchestral piece Shut Up and Dance, and now his own group is out on a short tour. It’s an extravagant line-up of a dozen players, with Barber directing. Brass and reeds are offset by strings, a bit like the Michael Nyman set-up but softer-edged, and versatile enough for an engaging repertoire of short pieces inflected by pop, early music, and traditional Asian modes….Barber himself made the impact he usually does with De hoc mundo, an energising compendium of punchy offbeat accents, circling harmonies, combative counterpoints and bright, sharp colours”
Robert Maycock, The Independent 4 March 1995

Score

Instrumental parts

Instrumental parts available at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)

Alternatively, parts can be downloaded via the ZIP file below

Performances

29.05.93	CARDIFF	City United Reformed Church
12.06.93	LONDON	Southbank Centre, Purcell Room
28.02.95	LONDON	St Giles Church, Cripplegate
02.03.95	CARDIFF	City United Reformed Church
07.03.95	MANCHESTER	Royal Northern College of Music
04.10.95	CARDIFF	Festival of Music, WCMD
10.10.95	MANCHESTER	Royal Northern College of Music
20.10.95	BATH	University
24.02.06	CARDIFF	The Gate
25.02.06	ABERYSTWYTH	Arts Centre
26.02.06	HOLYHEAD	Ucheldre Centre

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