Nigel Clarke’s `Heritage Suite’ (What Hope Saw) is now released on CD. The work written earlier this year was commissioned for the Kent based wind orchestra Eynsford Concert Band under the direction of Trumpet player John Hutchins. The band also features the music of British Composers Philip Sparke, Martin Ellerby, Adam Gorb and Nigel Hess as well as an especially written poem by Martin Westlake entitled `What Hope Saw’. To find out more about Nigel’s `Heritage Suite‘ (What Hope Saw) and the band ‘s experiences working on their first commissioned work you can go to the Eynsford Concert Band link. This quarters edition of Winds Magazine gives an account of the Eynsford’s experiences working on this new commission and is entitled `A Horn Player’s Diary of a New Work’ by David Chapman. Details on how to purchase the disc  can be found on the Eynsford Concert Band website. Eynsford Concert Band will be giving another performance of `Heritage Suite‘ (What Hope Saw) as well as other works on the disc in the Spring Concert a7 the Mick Jagger Centre on 18 April 2010.

`Heritage Suite’ (What Hope Saw) – from the sleeve notes

“Not far from Eynsford, nestling in the Weald of Kent lies a small thriving community. Every stone in West Malling has a story to tell, many dating back hundreds of years. Heritage Suite (What Hope Saw) is inspired by a sculpture entitled `Hope’ by Sarah Cunnington, that stands proudly near West Malling Town centre. The work offers a unique then and now vision, as we unravel the twists of time connected to West Malling. The suite begins in the present, depicting a busy market-town shadowed by the 15th century convent where plainchant can be heard. We are reminded of the harvest, and hops gathered by the Eastenders at the end of Summer between the wars in the form of a fanfare and a drunken dance, and then lazily watch the first cricket match as squadrons fly overhead from the RAF station at nearby Kings Hill. The instigator of a popular uprising in Kent 1554, Thomas Wyatt, takes the finale as he marches to London only to be repelled at London Bridge and ultimately executed for treason. The suite ends in an uplifting fashion, returning us to the statue and the central theme of Hope.”