Post-mortum

OK, let's cut to the chase: I didn't win.

Naturally, this is a disappointment, but it comes with much for consolation.  I was told first-hand by the member of the orchestra on the selection panel that the number of entrants in the competition was over a hundred, and that more than thirty of these had postgrad music degrees. Simply getting to the final means that my piece was judged to be superior to a significant number of very well-qualified competitors.  Also, how many 23-year-olds have actually had some orchestral work performed in a public concert?  Hearing a piece on this scale played in front of you is a valuable piece of education as well as a great excitement.

Best of all was after the concert, when I was taken to a series of after-parties by members of the orchestra.  These became gradually less formal in stages; firstly with a drinks reception in which I met Sally Beamish and exchanged pleasantries, then the rest of the judges and select members of the orchestra.  All were highly complimentary, as were the wonderful students of St Andrews whom I had no difficulty pretending I was one of.  Later, as I went to a theatre bar with some new friends, I began to get more and more the impression that orchestra generally preferred my piece to play than the other two (St Andrews does not have a music department, so the concert was all the more impressive given that it was played by linguists, scientists and English students). I was particularly pleased when the timpanist greeted me with the soundly delivered statement: 'That was a really excellent timpani part!'. The principal cellist - I believe she was called Jo - was also very complimentary (I'd written a cello solo towards the end of the work) and several other players made it known that although the parts were somewhat difficult in places, it was still highly enjoyable to play.  By the after-party the effect of alcoholic beverages had kept the stream of encouraging comments from the players alive. I thus consider to have fulfilled one of my 'golden rules' of composition.  I was quite ready for my complimentary night at the Fairmont hotel by the end (less so for the rally-esque driving style of a Fifeian taxi driver, on an unlit A91, in fog, at 2am) and will remember St Andrews' students with the greatest of affection.

I must, of course, consider possible reasons for having not won the prize.  High on the list is the quality of the other two entrants' music; Mark Boden (the winner) and Simon Smith, both of whom are older and more experienced than myself.  By coincidence, all three pieces took literary sources as their inspiration, and both of theirs showed some technical prowess above my own, particularly with regard to texture.  That said, I think that the overall style of the other two finalists' pieces was a) rather similar and b) not as specifically tailored to the occasion as mine. Simon's piece was subtitled 'elegy for orchestra', and whilst a very effective piece of writing in its own, begs the question of whether it is entirely appropriate for what is really a celebration.  My approach to composition in The Sun Rising seemed distinctly traditional: fugal counterpoint, more 'edges', clear melodic motifs and a more impassioned, rhetorical style.  Mark and Simon's music seemed to use a palate of much more amorphous, texture-based sonorities in which the parts of the orchestra generally mix together into an overall effect. Not for the entire course of a piece - Simon's featured a prominent bass clarinet solo - but there was much less in the way of individual lines for instruments than in my music. I can't help thinking this may have been a weakness in my work, as in several places the orchestration did not work quite as expected, and my string parts were very demanding.  On the other hand it made for what I (and others) felt was more exciting and exuberant music...  Still, I broadly agree with the choice of Mark's Six Degrees as the winner, at least on its musical merits. And I shall keep very safe the bound copy of all the premiered scores, which we were presented with after the concert.

The tourist-y bit of my trip will be subject to an illustrated commentary in the near future, which we hope will be both entertaining and enlightening.