The Scottish premiere of new brass band music inspired by Booker-winning novel
Orbital is based on Samantha Harvey’s 2024 Booker Prize winning novel of the same name
It was the brainchild of Martyn Brabbins, a world-renowned composer who teaches at a leading Scottish music conservatoire - to commission a series of brass band pieces by composers who had never previously worked with brass bands.
Now a new concert work inspired by a Booker Prize winning novel is to have its Scottish premiere performed by an award-winning Glasgow band.
Orbital for Brass Band, composed by Richard Blackford, is based on Samantha Harvey’s 2024 Booker Prize winning novel which follows six astronauts aboard the International Space Station as they orbit Earth, reflecting on subjects including the existence or nature of God, the meaning of life, and existential threats such as climate change.
This new 15 minute work for competition and concert performances will be premiered by the Cooperation Band at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) later this month. The band will also open up its rehearsals to music students and members of the public.
The piece was commissioned by Mr Brabbins, visiting professor of conducting at RCS in Glasgow, as well as chief conductor of the Malmö Symphony Orchestra in Sweden, alongside five other pieces which are still to be announced, who will be conducting the piece.
He said: “The brass band culture in the UK is extraordinarily rich. Hundreds of bands meet and rehearse, perform, compete, and generate energy and enthusiasm by their music making.
"Recently, I have become re-attached to the banding world and have encouraged the brilliant musicians who lead some of the top bands in the country to come together to commission new pieces to be written for brass band. Together we alighted on Richard Blackford - an incredibly versatile and experienced composer who had never written for brass band - but when I approached him I sensed a real enthusiasm to explore this unique musical world.”
He added: "Such an initiative is unique in brass band history, and following Richard Blackford's lead, we want to commission other composers who have never written brass bands before. Enriching the repertoire is essential for the continual renewal of this mighty tradition."
Mr Blackford said Mr Brabbins, who he had worked with in a commission with the Scottish National Orchestra in the past, had invited him to take part.
Mr Blackford had just finished reading Orbital, which won the Booker Prize in 2024. His four movements, Sudden Daylight, The Earth is Like Heaven, Weightlessness and Re-entry, were inspired by the perspectives of the astronauts in the novel.
He said: “I was told that brass bands respond very positively to narratives, to a piece that has got some kind of a storyline. I had just finished reading Orbital and I thought this would evoke some wonderful textures of of the six astronauts circling the Earth - the different moods, the danger, the beauty, the perspective of humanity and the globe and I just kept that thought at the front of my mind as I started sketching the piece.”
Katrina Marzella-Wheeler, musical director of the Cooperative Band, said: “We're really pleased that the Cooperation Band has been given the Scottish premiere in a few weeks' time. What makes it even more special is the fact that we are going to be working with Martyn Brabbins, who's one of the most prolific conductors in Europe at the moment.
“It's about opening up doors to people, giving free access to music making in our rehearsals and presenting the concert in a way that unravels contemporary classical music for for members of the public.”
Orbital ‘s Scottish premier will be performed at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on 27 November. It has been recorded for BBC Radio 3 where it is available via BBC Sounds.
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