It was a pleasure to compose this overture for the City of Southampton Orchestra, enabled by the legacy of Zena Howell (leader, 1 986-2004). The commission celebrated the orchestras 50th anniversary and involved consultation with players about what they feel the orchestra, Southampton, and surrounding areas, meant to them. Following several zoom sessions during the 2021 lockdowns, I had plenty of suggestions to work with and fervently immersed myself into the musical challenges of intertwining them together in one composition.
The opening melody is made up from the first half of the notes that result from putting the words ‘City of Southampton’ through a musical cryptogram. There is an indulgent complete statement of this, approximately halfway through the overture, that is followed by a musical cryptogram of the word ‘Orchestra’ (played three times, by the strings, wind, and brass, respectively).
Following this brief introduction, an animated passage represents the bubbling energy of the city. There is a recurring musical trigger here, involving a descending strain that is interrupted by three short blasts (as if going astern!) and subsequently then played in reverse (ascending). Brief arpeggiaic references to the opening contour of ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ are interspersed within this, layered on top of one another to create a quartal soundworld.
These transitional gestures eventually make way for a less active passage that might represent the stillness of Southampton Water at night, with the backdrop of large vessels inferred by short passages of brass chords. The violin solo, here, is comprised of the melody notes of ‘When the Saints…’, although there is no attempt to draw any literal rhythmical reference.
An indulgent reprise of the opening melody precedes a bubbling transition, by way of the ‘Orchestra’ motif described earlier, back into the hustle and bustle of the city. This is rudely interrupted by a low and obtrusive chord, which is the literal sound of the three pitches of the Titanic’s whistles when heard simultaneously. The stillness of the water returns with a now extended version of the brass chorale, transitioning to the final section that begins with a piccolo playing a quasi sea shanty, derived from an embellished form of the hymn tune, by W. Croft, ‘O God, Our Help in Ages Past’. Known as the “St Anne” hymn tune, the words were written by Isaac Watts, son of Sarah Taunton and cousin to Richard, a Southampton born composer (b.1 674). The tune itself, a setting of the 90th Psalm, can be heard on the Guildhall bells daily.
The final section of the overture begins with a statement of the quasi shanty in low strings and wind, now revealed as the subject of a rhapsodic fugal passage that ultimately builds to a climactic peak. The combinations of sounds, all layered upon one-another, features bell-like effects in the winds (again using the hymn tune). When combined with the contrapuntal material that has accrued and overlaid by an augmented statement of ‘When the Saints’ (first played by the trumpet), the commotion is an impression of the Southampton Docks, and the merging of the many strands of life in the City.
A final blast, of a bespoke CSO ships horn, interrupts the chaos, and the final phrase ends with an exuberant statement of the closing phrases of ‘When the Saints…’ (with the CSOs horn thrown in for good measure!).
