Instrumentation: 2.picc.2.2.2./4.3.3.1./timp.3perc.hp./strings
(harp is optional; alternate parts for 2 percussion)
Originally named A Celebration Overture
Date: 1997
Duration: 9:30
Notes:
A Canadian Celebration Overture is meant to capture musically the fast-paced energetic and joyful aspects of life in Canada today, with a look back to Canada’s early years through the inclusion of an historic Canadian folk song.
The overture opens with a brief fanfare which is followed by a calm lyrical section, featuring a melodic clarinet solo. The energy continues to build until the music climaxes with a return to the original fanfare material. The clarinet is heard again in a solo cadenza, which leads to the main section, a spirited Allegro. The Allegro’s main theme is first heard in the woodwinds and is then developed symphonically. The music slows and a beautiful flute solo emerges, which is a Canadian Folk Song from Nova Scotia called Bold Pedlar. This folk song is heard again in the violas, cellos, and bassoons, and finally with the full orchestra. The Allegro section returns and leads into the overture’s conclusion, an exciting coda where the original fanfare returns in a fast-paced flourish. The overture was composed to be tuneful, pleasing and joyful—a symphonic celebration.
Commissioning
A Canadian Celebration Overture was commissioned by the Brantford Symphony in 1997 to commemorate the Sesquicentennial of the city of Brantford.