Highlandler
Kelly
TANG (b.1961)
Highlandler
Overture was commissioned by St. Margaretfs Secondary School in commemoration
of its 160th, as well as the Bandfs 30th anniversary in
2002. The title Highlandler attempts to convey the grand 160-year tradition of
St. Margaretfs Secondary School at various levels. First, it alludes to the
origin of the schoolfs patron saint, Queen Margaret of Scotland. Second, it
expresses the towering achievements of the school; its staff and its students
have attained through 160 years of faithful perseverance, and the heights yet to
be achieved. Third, High-landler is a play on words describing how the direct
melodies of this work (which are like landler, or Austrian folk songs)
are set within the context of a sophisticated contrapuntal structure
(compositional technique whereby several melodic lines are sounded
simultaneously) in the style of ehighf art music.
The
work begins with an introductory fanfare theme, which opens the way for the main
theme of Highlandler. This is written in a traditional Scottish style and
develops to an energetic march. The mood then relaxes to a more lyrical (but
still urgent) secondary theme played by the clarinet section. The Scottish theme
then returns stoutly in the bass instruments. It builds up again, to be capped
off by fanfare theme.
The
romantic andante theme now enters in the saxophones, melodically
constructed from the contours of the school hymn, Our Father, By Whose Servants.
This builds up to a grand climax, which signals the return of the Scottish
theme, played by flutes and piccolo. The saxophones, together with military
drums, provide a ebagpipef background drone. The Scottish march then returns
in full force, leading to a modified version of the lyrical (but urgent)
secondary theme.
This builds up to a majestic climax featuring the romantic Andante theme, which drives towards a furious presto return of the fanfare theme in the horn section punctuated by a percussion groove, brass stabs and woodwind runs. The piece ends in a flurry of insistently hammered repeated notes.