Writing Scenes From Wonderland

Posted by Charlotte Bray on 5 May 2011 | 0 Comments

Tags: Charlotte Bray, Bright Sparks, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jennifer Pike

On Tuesday 28 June, Bridge Project students, LMM Award Holder Jennifer Pike and the London Philharmonic Orchestra will premiere Charlotte Bray’s Scenes from Wonderland as part of the BrightSparks schools concert series. Charlotte tells us about writing this exciting new piece ….

Scenes from Wonderland - a new work commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and London Music Masters to be performed in the Royal Festival Hall. Throw into the mix a top soloist by the name of Jennifer Pike and around seventy seven year old violinists from London Music Masters’ Bridge Project who have been playing for around a year! The possibilities seemed endless. My main objective from the onset was to inspire and stimulate the young violinists in a piece that would allow them to shine in their performances of it, whilst at the same time I wanted to ensure that the piece was still true to me and not ‘watered down’ contemporary music.

 

Incredibly excited, with a little trepidation because of the pure unknown nature of the commissioned piece, I began writing the work that was to be based on scenes from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. After visiting the schools to hear the Bridge Project violinists play, I felt totally energized by their enthusiasm and commitment at this early age.

The piece progressed in a programmatic way where the soloist represents Alice. The Bridge violinists lead the LPO in an introduction, playing and singing, and three scenes follow: Down the Rabbit-Hole, The Great Hall, and The Pool of Tears. A fascination for me in writing the piece was to balance and vary the roles that each part of the ensemble has. I was keen to provide the Bridge violinists with a big theme where they are the focus of attention as well as sections where they become part of the LPO in accompanying the soloist.

I’m hugely excited to hear the result! The greatest reward will undoubtedly be watching and listening to my music performed by so many buzzing young musicians and what more committed and enthusiastic players could you possibly find…