`When Worlds Collide’ Performed at the 2013 European Brass Band Championships

Nigel’s latest brass band work `When Worlds Collide’ was performed at the 2013 European Brass Band Championships in Oslo, Norway by Brass Band Buizingen of which Nigel is Associate Composer. Conductor Luc Vertommen and the band came 4th overall in Oslo and came in front of some great bands including Black Dyke performing `When Worlds Collide’.

Iwan Fox for 4barsrest.com wrote 10/05/13) in their 2013 European Brass Band Championships Retrospective:

“Meanwhile, Buizingen also threw caution to the wind (from the word go in fact) with ‘When World’s Collide’, in a performance that put a huge smile of engaged curiosity on the faces of listeners in the hall and revealed without doubt that Nigel Clarke is one of the most inventive brass band composers of the age.”

 

[vimeo width=”430″ height=”298″]http://vimeo.com/65460113[/vimeo]

More about `When Worlds Collide’ below:

WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE

(LITTLE GREEN MEN IN INTERGALACTIC SPACESHIPS WITH RAYGUNS AND PHASERS) 

A Space Symphony for Brass Band

I wrote When Worlds Collide with the aim of recreating the atmosphere and sentiment of the American cult “Sci-Fi” movies of the 1950’s, such as Robert Wise’s 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still and Invasion of the Body Snatchers directed by Don Siegel in 1956, as well as Rudolph Maté’s 1951 film When Worlds Collide. Though all in one movement, I wrote an imaginary script that underlines all of When Worlds Collide’s varying moods and atmospheres.

 1. Crop Circles, 2. Lights in the Sky, 3. Strange Happenings, 4. Sightings, 5. We Come In Peace – 6. Alien Abduction – 7. Analysis of the Earthlings, 8. Teleportation, 9. New Understandings, 10. Visions of Far Off Worlds, 11. Colonisation!

The British theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking talked about the possibilities of extra-terrestrial life in a documentary for the Discovery Channel. Hawking said that in his opinion there is little doubt that amongst the 100’s of billions of stars in the Cosmos there should be planets capable of sustaining life. “To my mathematical brain, the numbers alone make thinking about aliens perfectly rational…The real challenge is to work out what aliens might actually be like”.

Hawking continued, “We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet. I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonise whatever planets they can reach.” Hawking believes it could have devastating consequences to life on Earth if we made contact with intelligent visitors from outer of space “If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans.”

I have written When Worlds Collide to sound uniquely different depending on the band that is performing it. This idea is not new – it is for me a truly fascinating characteristic of Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps  (The Rite of Spring). Stravinsky’s masterwork written a 100 years ago seems to force the orchestra to create its own individual and personal sound, which is exciting for both performer and audience alike. I have given the conductor and band much scope in When Worlds Collide to be creative and imaginative in their interpretation. My main aim is to avoid the performance becoming too “safe” and to provide a sense of fun and entertainment.

Hear an extract from `When Worlds Collide’ part of a new double disc collection of music for brass band by Nigel Clarke recorded by Luc Vertommen and Brass Band Buizingen.

[audio:http://www.nigel-clarke.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/When-Worlds-Collide-Extract.mp3|titles=When Worlds Collide Extract]

 

Iwan Fox for 4barsrest.com wrote 10/05/13) in their 2013 European Brass Band Championships Retrospective:

“Meanwhile, Buizingen also threw caution to the wind (from the word go in fact) with ‘When World’s Collide’, in a performance that put a huge smile of engaged curiosity on the faces of listeners in the hall and revealed without doubt that Nigel Clarke is one of the most inventive brass band composers of the age.”