Episode for Fanfare - Fanfare Band

Fanfare Band - Episode for Fanfare is based on a poem by Friedrich von Schiller: Der Kampf mit dem Drachen. In this poem he describes the battle with his own ego. He wins, but as it wasn’t a fair fight, he won by trickery and cunning, he has to account for his deeds. “judge not until you have evaluated” is an adage that is appropriate to this work. The main theme “der Ritter, hoch zu Ross” the anti-hero, the ego, is played by the trombone section. The music follows the general drift of the story. Firstly the fact that the knight is fighting against the dragon (his own ego), later on his accounting to his conscience, and then the story of how he rediscovers his true self, in the form of a romantic melody, which takes the form of a flashback. The work ends with reconciliation, begging for grace and forgiveness, and then the embracing of the one who was cast out. His ego has been defeated. The title “Episode” refers to the fact that more episodes from the poem are used to tell the musical story. In this work there are various solo passages, sweeping musical lines, surprising harmonies and lovely themes. Personal addition: When I read Schiller’s poem, I immediately knew what kind of composition I wanted to write. It took some time, however, to get it just right. It was only after listening to Mozart’s Requiem, particularly the Confutatis, that I knew how I could connect the themes to the continual struggle in Schiller’s poem. The great masters are as ever a wonderful source of inspiration.

Specifications

Composer	Christiaan Janssen
Difficulty	D - advanced
Duration	00:11:15
Year of publication	2006