Hazel Leach : Composer
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Bigband
Torch Song
This was written in 1997 and recorded by The United Women's Orchestra on
their second CD "The Blue One". When I wrote the liner-notes for the CD,
I said that this was "the story of a love-affair. Not the usual tragic
romance, but an account of the progression through the curiosity, excitement,
happiness and passion of a good relationship. What a shame that all good
things come to an end.."
To be completely truthful, however, the love-affair in question hasn't
ended yet, since the object of my affections is the music of Wayne Shorter.
The main theme of "Torch Song" is based on the changes of his beautiful
"Infant Eyes", and borrowing them doesn't seem to have diminished my admiration
for them at all.
There are two different instrumentations: the original version was
written with the Dutch guitarist Corrie van Binsbergen in mind, as a guitar
feature. The UWO version features the soprano sax, which I'm sure Mr. Shorter
would approve of...
The theme had also been arranged for smaller groups, so I'm incuding
the leadsheet here below as a pdf file, and a soundclip of the soprano
theme, played here by Meike Goosmann and the UWO.
Original line-up: ss, as, 2ts, bs/fl, bcl. 4 tp, 3 tb, tba, pn, bs,
dm.
Length: 10 minutes.
Information about ordering the music can be found on the "contact" page-
see link above.
Although the main theme is a ballad, it develops into a fairly hefty,
funkier section, with trumpet and drum solos building a long crescendo
into the final tutti which ends on a surprisingly sweet note. Classify
that, if you can.
This was one of the pieces commissioned by the Fonds voor de Scheppende
Toonkunst, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
860K