Martin Dalby

Programme Note

Chamber Symphony: "O Bella e Vaga Aurora" (1982) Martin Dalby
Scoring: 11 players: fl(picc), Clt(Eb), Clt(Bclt), Hn, Tpt, 1 Perc*, Hp, Vln, Vla, Vc, Db.

*(Perc: Marimba, 4 Tom Toms and 2 Bongos

Movements: 1. Early Song
2. Increasing Song
3. Sad Song
4. Proud Songsters

"In movement 4 the quotation from Proud Songsters from Earth and Air and Rain by Gerald Finzi is made by kind permission of Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd."

Note: this is Boosey & Hawkes' only requirment for the brief quote from Finzi. (Andrew Kemp, Head of Copyright, B&H to MD, 03/01/86)

The composer was particularly proud to incorporate this quotation: the song-cycle is very close to his heart as are the Hardy poems. More important Finzi came to stay with the Dalbys in Aberdeen when Martin was a small boy.He remembers him well as a loveable, gentle man who found a fondness for the dog.

First performance: New Music Group of Scotland conducted by Edward Harper, Edinburgh Festival, Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, 10 September 1982.

Some other performances: New Music Group of Scotland conducted by Edward Harper, Studio One, BBC Broadcasting House, Edinburgh,26 April 1984. (recording for Radio 3)

New Music Group of Scotland conducted by Edward Harper, Radio 3, 21 January 1987 (Repeat)

Completed: Drymen: September 1982 (Last movement revised March 1984)

Programme notes:

Dalby has frequently drawn inspiration from literary works as in the case of O bella e vaga Aurora (O beautiful and charming dawn), an Edinburgh Festival commission. The title was taken from a line in Torquato Tasso's poem Ecco mormorar l'onde (Here the murmuring of the waves), which Monteverdi used for a five-part madrigal. Dalby's score contains oblique references to, as opposed to direct quotations from, this setting.

O bella e vaga Aurora, which consists of four movements, opens with, Early Song, whose title is a reference toThe Charm of Birds, a book by Lord Grey of Fallodon. The music was suggested by the dawn chorus, but birdsong is not quoted. Increasing Song takes the same book as its point of departure, referring to a later period in the year.Sad Song, which makes use of pedal glissandi on the harp and pizzicato glissandi on the strings has no connection with birds. Proud Songsters, the title of the final movement, comes from a poem by Thomas Hardy; it was set by Gerald Finzi as part of his song-cycle Earth and Air and Rain and Dalby quotes a fragment of Finzi's music in this movement The music of this movement looks back on Early Song and other parts of the work, but also incorporates new material. O bella vaga e Aurora is scored for flute (doubling Piccolo), two clarinets (one doubling on the piccolo E flat, the other on the bass clarinet), horn, trumpet, harp, percussion (mainly marimba), violin, viola, cello and double bass.

O bella e vaga Aurora was performed for the first time during the 1982 Festival, in the Queen's Hall Edinburgh by the New Music Group of Scotland directed by Edward Harper.

Malcolm Rayment

Note: the title was changed to Chamber Symphony: O Bella e Vaga Aurora following a suggestion from the music critic Conrad Wilson.

Composer's Note:

The Chamber Symphony: O Bella e Vaga Aurora (O Beautiful and Charming Dawn) draws on references to many different sources. The work's title comes from a line in Torquato Tasso's Ecco mormorar l'onde (Here the murmuring of the waves). Monteverdi set this text as a madrigal, and there are veiled references to his setting throughout the Chamber Symphony.

The first two movements titles (Early Song and Increasing Song), on the other hand are derived from Lord Grey of Fallodon's ornithological treatise The Charm of Birds. Both movements suggest a dawn chorus, at different times of the year, although without imitating any particular birdsong. Sad Song, the third movement, makes use of glissando effects in the strings and harp, and is named for the general character of the music. The final movement is a synthesis of elements from the earlier movements (and Early Song in particular) with new material, and includes a brief quotation from Finzi's setting of Thomas Hardy's Proud Songsters, from which the movement takes its title.

The Chamber Symphony: O Bella e Vaga Aurora was commissioned by the Edinburgh International Festival, and was first performed there at the Queen's Hall on 10 September 1982, by the New Music Group of Scotland, directed by Edward Harper.


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Study score for sale: Catalogue no. 36 0022