PERFORMERS

FLYER NOTES

Our presentation of OMMADAWN represents the first movement of an unusual and fascinating work composed in 1975  by Mike Oldfield.  Oldfield is generally well known for his first opus, TUBULAR BELLS,  which in 1973  took the rock world by storm in its symphonic treatment of basic rock patterns. OMMADAWN  far surpasses this earlier work: it is a tighter composition which,  through a series of episodes based on related thematic materials, takes us on a journey through Oldfield's troubled psyche. To Oldfield, OMMADAWN  was a vent for his anger at the psychological trauma he had experienced as a child in a dysfunctional family, and this is evident in the music as euphoric climax gives way to frenzy and as textural and rhythmic density pull the listener on to the final bar. OMMADAWN is exciting and mysterious - it has been described by one reviewer as a ghostly fairground ride. Also interesting is the music's eclecticism - it borrows liberally from such diverse styles as Celtic Folk, Western Classical, African and popular music. Finally, OMMADAWN has been presented both as a rock work by a band and as a classical  composition by an orchestra. Today we are taking an unusual stop by treating it as a classical work whilst performing with an unusual ensemble featuring a mixture of electric and acoustic instruments.  In this way we are attempting to find a middle ground where we can remain faithful to the original form of the of composition whilst still accentuating its features as a classical work.

This arrangement was originally intended as a working score for the use of Dilworth School's music department who study OMMADAWN as part of their School Certificate course. Work began in September 1993 with this purpose in mind. However, as the transcription developed we began to become aware of the more subtle components of its composition and became interested in presenting an arrangement to a classical audience. When the transcription was completed in late February 1994, we immediately began this arrangement. We decided to conserve our electric guitar part by using only one and passing on other electric guitar lines to the flute, violin, and piano.  We replaced the recorder with a flute and a clarinet and extended the function of these instruments as well as those of the trumpets and the cello.  owing to the complexity of the African drum part, we simplified this and scored it for six unspecified drums.  We aso reharmonised the vocal part and added some four-part harmonies where Oldfield had used two.