Description
Programme note
Fewston is a small village set amongst rolling hills and green valleys of West Yorkshire, England. It is located nearby several reservoirs, between Swinsty and Fewston beyond Lindley Wood. A parish church stands on the side of a hill in the centre of the village. The music is that of a land that pays no heed to the feet that scuttle around on it from time to time. One hears the mists in the morning, the stormy winds in the afternoon, and the calm sunset in the evening.
A broader theme of the music is a nostalgic and romanticised view of England’s past that many people currently have. An undercurrent of anxiety in the music aims to portray the danger of this nostalgia, and the concern that the true values the country once stood for may be lost.
Two hymn tunes are adapted in this piece. Fewster is first heard at bar 22, while Rockingham is slowly introduced throughout the piece and heard in full at bar 148.
