Northern Landscapes

Northern Landscapes is scored for professional brass quintet and grade 3/4 wind band and was written as part of an education project sponsored by the Ulster Brass Quintet. The piece is designed to allow advanced players (the quintet) to perform with young musicians (the wind band). In the case of the Ulster Quintet the performance followed master classes and coaching sessions, Northern Landscapes providing the finale to the day’s events.

The four movements provide musical mood pictures of various aspects of working life in Northern Ireland. 1) Industry opens the suite with the bustle of factory machinery, followed attacca by 2) Seascapes, which evokes the calmness of local waters during a fishing expedition. 3) Earth Dance references the mining industry where the blackness of the environment is mirrored by the darkness of the music. 4) Flight evokes the path of an aircraft on its maiden journey in this tribute to the aircraft industry.

Northern Landscapes was commissioned by the Ulster Orchestra Society, with funds provided by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.