Gallimaufry - 1983

This suite was inspired by Shakespeare’s Henry IV plays and derived from music written for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s productions, which opened the Barbican Theatre, London in June 1982. It is dedicated to Trevor Nunn, then Artistic Director of the RSC, with grateful thanks for his suggestion that the music from these productions should be expanded and moulded into a form suitable for concert performance. Tim Reynish and BASBWE commissioned the work, which was given its first performance by the Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra on September 24th 1983 conducted by the composer. The work is continuous and the thematic material of each of the six sections closely related: Church and State – leadership; the establishment; temporal and ecclesiastical power. Inn and Out – the Boar’s Head Tavern; the Stews; low-life revels. Starts and Fits – Tavern brawl; Gadshill ambush; Pistol, “the swaggerer” evicted; Mistress Quickly’s “rescue”. Father and Son – Relationship of King Henry and Falstaff to Prince Hal – real and surrogate parent. Church and Status Quo – Falstaff rejected; Hal becomes King; order restored.