L’homme armé: Variations
I composed this set of variations on the famous L’homme armé theme in 2003. Timothy & Hilary Reynish commissioned the piece in memory of their third son William who died in a climbing accident that year. L’homme armé: Variations was first performed by the Guildhall Symphonic Wind Ensemble under Peter Gane on July 3 2003 at the 11th conference of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) in Jönköping, Sweden.
There have since been (as of June 2010) more than 50 performances, some of the very finest directed by Tim Reynish himself in several locations in the United States, the UK, Switzerland, Norway and Singapore. In 2005 John Boyd led the Philharmonia à Vent in a convincing performance recorded for the Klavier Music CD Ghosts (K11150).
A very successful recent performance that I was able to attend was in February 2010: the Dartmouth Wind Ensemble directed by Matthew Marsit.
L’homme armé: Variations is a particularly important work for me, partly for the circumstances surrounding the commission and partly because I had been planning to write a work based on the L’homme armé theme since I first heard it in high school. Here is a programe note.
This piece is published by Maecenas Music.
Christopher Marshall
Orlando, Florida, 2010
Reviews/Comments:
“It is safe to say that L’Homme Arme was a stunning success…..”
Maecenas Music
1 Picc. 2 Fl. (#2 doubles Picc. 2) 2 Ob. 1 C.A. 3 Bb Cl. (#3 doubles Eb) 1 BassCl. 2 Alt.Sax. 1 Ten.Sax. 1 Bar.Sax. 2 Bsn. 1 Cbsn.// 4 F Hn. 3 Bb Tpt. (#3 doubles Eb) 3 Tbn. 1 Euph. 1 Tba. //1 Timp. 3 Perc.
Persual Score
Premiere
Performance
Duration:
±17″
Difficulty:
Grade 6