Slate, Sea and Sky features a musical landscape and journey led by the cornet soloist alongside ensembles taken from the band, broadly representing the title's three elements: 'slate' (flugelhorn, tenor horns and trombones); 'sea' (baritones, euphoniums and basses) and 'sky' (cornets). The smaller groups and full band alternate, with the three integrated and continuous sections travelling towards and through a storm, emerging into bright skies at the end.
The title Slate, Sea and Sky is taken from Norman Bissell's evocative poem of the same name, found in a book of poetry given to me by a close friend, to whom the work is dedicated.
