The Light Fantastic

The Light Fantastic was written to mark the start of WASO’s residency at Winthrop Hall. It is a celebratory ‘light show’ for orchestra. Imagery of fireworks, kaleidoscopes, stained-glass windows and camera obscura were never far from my mind as I attempted to render these in sound. I thought of it as a type of colour-fanfare – music that glistens, fizzes and even bends.
The piece takes fanfare-calls consisting of a long note followed by several short notes that progressively bend lower in pitch. These are then reversed, (short notes followed by long, with the pitch moving back up) so that each complete call appears with its mirror image. These calls connect to form larger, slow-moving ascending lines that rip and tear into each other the same way exploding fireworks collide in the night sky.
Like a concerto for orchestra, most instruments get a moment in the spotlight. There are prominent parts for percussion (bells, glockenspiel and crotales), celesta and harp. Most of the piece is highly charged, but there is a contemplative middle section – wind and horn calls echo against a backdrop of subdued high string chords, timpani and pizzicato double bass. The piece moves on, gaining momentum, propelled by deceptively simple repeating rhythmic patterns and accelerating tempos. An orchestral climax erupts after a rapid ascent through the orchestra: the music suspended, fizzing in the air before one final flourish in the percussion, harp and trumpet bring the work to a close.
The Light Fantastic was commissioned by WASO with generous support from Geoff Stearn.